


Bide Him to the Pillage

by barbitone



Series: Voltron Fanfiction [56]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Baddies ftw, Depression, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Morally Ambiguous Character, Post Season 8, Post-Canon, Revenge, Suicidal Thoughts, The Paladins are Jerks, Violence, Voltron Fanart, amoral sendak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2020-12-24 08:16:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21096296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbitone/pseuds/barbitone
Summary: Instead of leaving Lotor in the rift, the Paladins take him and keep him in stasis on one of the Lions until they reach Earth and defeat Sendak's fleet. Afterwards, they bring Lotor in for a trial. Their only proof is Romelle’s confused testimony. The Colony is gone- the second colony is gone. The Alteans that are left don’t know anything concrete about the second colony or what happened there. Regardless, Lotor is convicted and sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment.That is, until Sendak shows up with the rag-tag remains of the Fire of Purification to break him out and take back the Empire.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Bide Him to the Pillage [Abridged]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20680814) by [barbitone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbitone/pseuds/barbitone). 

> If the title/summary seems familiar, it's because this is the full length version of [this oneshot](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20680814)
> 
> Big thanks to [Salt_Queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salt_Queen/) for betaing!!!

* * *

Lotor remembered the fight with Voltron only vaguely. The memory felt like watching himself from under water, the despair and crackling electricity that had surged through him in the moment feeling far away.

He remembered the final blow, the lethal surge of energy burning out from Voltron’s chest. He remembered Sincline growing dark around him, then everything else growing dark around him too.

He thought he was dead.

And then he woke, strapped to a table in what was clearly a medbay. There were soldiers around him, mostly human.

“It’s time for your trial,” one said.

They didn’t give him a chance to get his bearings before dragging him to the courtroom and forcing him to sit with his wrists and ankles shackled to a chair, still dizzy and lost as someone he didn’t know read an impressive list of charges.

It was a sham.

There was no evidence, only confused testimonies. The Paladins were there, their presence stifling. The Black Paladin was notably absent, though Lotor supposed that was to be expected. He’d been Haggar’s puppet, Haggar’s voice and hands, her spy. The Paladins had probably destroyed him once they’d found out, or maybe he’d returned to the witch’s side.

Lotor noted that there was no one willing to step forward on his behalf. Any allies he might have had left probably knew well enough to keep away from the proceedings.

It lasted a long time- days. Days of listening to lies about his character, slander about his parentage. As if his father’s actions had anything to do with him.

“Do you have anything to say?” the judge demanded at the end. It was the first time he’d been invited to speak.

Lotor blinked slowly as if waking from a dream. He hadn’t been paying very much attention for a while now, anger having curdled into boredom.

The assembled witnesses were staring at him with thinly-veiled hatred and he narrowed his eyes as he looked through the room.

“Do you expect me to debase myself by begging for mercy, when I know you have none?” he asked, his voice hoarse but loud in the silence. A few people flinched.

“Do you expect me to trust you’d believe anything I have to say, when I know you will not? You had your chance to listen to my side of the story, but you chose to turn away.” He stared at the Princess while he spoke, seated beside the other Paladins. She was white-lipped in anger but she didn’t dare interrupt, a small mercy.

“You chose to depose a legitimate ruler- an _ ally- _because you couldn’t control your anger. And now you sentence me for crimes you have no proof of on the basis of the second-hand testimony of a confused girl. My alleged crimes pale in comparison to what you’ve done- the deaths you’ve been directly responsible for. This is a sham court and a sham trial. The only thing I have left to say is this-”

He leaned forward and glared, dropping his voice to force them to listen close. “Execute me now,” he said harshly. “Because if you do not- _ I will destroy you.” _

The court broke out into troubled whispers and he leaned back with a smirk, enjoying the chaos. If they were so determined to believe he was a monster- then he may as well become one. Nothing else had worked- not scheming, not kindness, not logic. He was finished. He’d tear Voltron apart with his bare hands if he had to, and reforge the universe in fire.

* * *

They put him in a cell much like the one he’d been in on the Castle of Lions. All he could do was bide his time. 

He tried to keep it together. He passed the time by pacing his cell and doing what exercises he could to keep himself strong. He told himself stories, the plots of half-forgotten books he’d read as a child. When it all got to be too much, he screamed.

There were too many hours in the day and for all of them his cell remained as brightly lit as an interrogation chamber. He saw no one and nothing. His meals were brought to him by Sentries. He had nothing but his nightmares to keep him company and despite his best efforts he felt himself slipping towards something that frightened him.

He felt himself slipping back towards the dangerous feral thing he’d become when he’d taken control of Sincline on his own.

When he couldn’t take it anymore he beat the barrier of the cell with his fists until his knuckles were bruised and bleeding. Sentries came to subdue him and he managed to take out most of them with his bare hands until one hit him with some sort of shock baton and everything went dark. He woke to bandaged hands and a tray of cold food, still alone.

He threw the tray at the barrier with a snarl, getting some strange satisfaction from watching it splatter and make a mess.

No one came to clean it up. The slop dried into a disgusting paste on the ground.

He stopped eating after that, refusing all food and drink for days before he collapsed and woke strapped down in a medbay. The medbay was empty and dark and it was a blessing. He let himself take a few slow even breaths and enjoy it before dislocating his left thumb so he could pull his wrist out of the restraints. The sharp pain was like a bloom of light in his mind, bringing focus. He shoved his thumb back into place before freeing himself and pulling the I.V. needle out of his arm.

He armed himself with a scalpel and a pair of medical scissors before making his way out into the hall. He didn’t know where he was going and didn’t care. There was very little he found himself caring about as long as he was outside that damned _ cell. _Eventually alarms blared out and he heard mechanical footsteps approaching from all directions- Sentries.

Normally he could have handled a few dozen Sentries on his own, but he was weak and tired and possibly mad. He took out a couple, but then they swarmed him and it was all he could do to kick and scream as they dragged him back to the cell.

He didn’t try that trick again. Surely even the Paladins and their lackeys wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for that sort of thing twice and he didn’t want to risk further constraints on his freedom. He wouldn’t put it past them to strap him down to a chair with an I.V. in his arm, forcing him to stillness until…

Until it was all over some other way. 

He found himself dreaming of it nearly as often as he dreamt of the nightmare in the rift, Sincline dying around him. Despite his efforts to stay sharp he started to hallucinate, seeing glimpses of Allura and Haggar and Acxa and so many other people who had humiliated and controlled and betrayed him, beaten him. He saw them standing outside his cell, watching him coldly in silence, their gazes piercing.

And then Sendak was there and Lotor couldn’t help but laugh. Why should his subconscious bother with something like that? Sendak wasn’t a sign of defeat but rather victory. Lotor had beaten him at the Kral Zera. Of course, the Blades had intervened and their duel had been interrupted. Still- Lotor didn’t make a habit of turning his nose up at victories, no matter how tenuous. He’d taken for himself what Sendak had wanted most, for however short a time Lotor had been Emperor.

“Lotor,” Sendak said.

Lotor looked over at him, still chuckling as he stared. He hadn’t bothered to sit up from where he was sprawled out on the floor, one knee up and one hand resting on his chest where he could feel his own erratic heartbeat. It was the only stimulus in the bright empty silence of his cell- his own heartbeat, his own breathing. His own thoughts, swirling endlessly.

And now, this vision. Sendak. He couldn’t help being intrigued.

The hallucination of Sendak didn’t look the way he was used to picturing him. He wasn’t in Imperial Armor, but rather some mismatched set of clothing with a dark tattered cloak over it all. His right eyesocket was covered by a simple black eyepatch. His left arm was gone. He was scowling.

And most of all- he’d spoken. None of the other hallucinations had spoken before. 

“Have you come to take me as your slave?” Lotor asked, raising an eyebrow. He nearly burst into a fresh wave of giggles at the way Sendak clenched his jaw.

“No,” Sendak said. “Would you believe I’ve come to bend the knee?”

And that was strange. Had nightmarish hallucinations turned to idle fantasies? 

“No,” Lotor said, expecting Sendak to turn into someone else- something else- at any moment.

Sendak smirked. And then he knelt and brought his fist to his chest. “Emperor Lotor,” he said, and somehow managed to sound insolent as he wrapped his lips around the title.

Lotor slowly forced himself to sit up. He rubbed his eyes. “Are you… real?” he asked in disbelief.

“Are you drugged?”

“I-” Lotor blinked a few times. Was he? “I don’t know. Are you- why are you…”

“The trial was broadcast throughout the universe,” Sendak said, like that made any sense. “The remaining Galra have found themselves quite taken with your pronouncement. They want you to lead them to vengeance and glory. Will you?”

Lotor laughed. “There isn’t much I can do from a jail cell.”

“Obviously I’m here to rescue you,” Sendak scoffed, standing. His remaining eye narrowed as he took in Lotor still sitting on the ground. 

What must he look like? Thin and pale, disheveled and pathetic. 

“Unless there’s nothing left to rescue,” Sendak said.

His words ripped through Lotor like a blade and he stumbled to his feet. “Don’t leave me,” he gasped, raw and devastated. “Don’t leave me here. Anything but that.”

Sendak’s lip curled down with disgust. Lotor wondered if Sendak would make him beg, and wondered if he’d do it- stoop to that depth.

He would.

“Sendak-” Lotor said, his nerves fraying.

“I’m not here for your pitiful carrying on,” Sendak interrupted. He pulled out a small device and it let out some sort of pulse. The forcefield fell. “Come,” Sendak said. When Lotor hesitated he stepped forward to grab him by the wrist.

Lotor couldn’t help a gasp at the contact. Sendak was warm and solid against him. This was real. Sendak yanked on his wrist and Lotor fell forward with a wince.They walked away from the cell and Lotor knew there was a crazed smile spreading over his face.

Somehow he managed to put one foot in front of the other as they made their way through the facility past sparking remains of broken Sentries. Sendak must have destroyed them on the way to Lotor’s cage. They didn’t pass any other cells or prisoners, no guards other than robotic ones.

There was a small Galra ship in the hangar and Sendak pushed him into the co-pilot’s seat before starting the engines.

Lotor’s heart soared as they left the facility, the backwards planet he’d been imprisoned on.

It was dark in space, quiet and cold. Sendak didn’t speak and Lotor closed his eyes, breathing carefully through his nose. The darkness was soothing, the hum of the ship around him even more so. He wanted to laugh, to cry. He wanted to reach out and touch Sendak to make sure he was still here, still real.

He did none of that. He folded his hands in his lap to hide how hard they were shaking and simply breathed.

When they reached Sendak’s fleet, if it could be called that, his heart fell.

The fleet was a ragged thing, the dregs of a glorious Empire turned raiders, at best. There were a few dozen ships, none of them cruiser class. Sendak’s flag ship was clearly a cargo ship that had been retrofitted with weapons.

“This is it?” Lotor asked incredulously. “This? This is my Empire?”

Sendak smirked. “Welcome home, Emperor Lotor.”

“How am I meant to do anything with _ this?” _

“It’s more than what you had an hour ago,” Sendak said. “It’s more than what you had when you were exiled.”

That was true enough, but Lotor couldn’t help but laugh in the face of the pathetic remains of Sendak’s forces. The Fire of Purification, it seemed, had petered out.

No one greeted them when they landed in the hangar of Sendak’s ship. Sendak took him to a set of quarters. The room was just as pitiful as everything else, but the cot was wide and piled high with warm blankets. There were fresh clothes folded neatly on the writing desk, a few books, a datapad. A door set into the wall led to a bathroom with a shower cubicle. There was another door in the bathroom.

Lotor laughed at the fresh wave of indignity. He’d be sharing the bathroom with-

“With me,” Sendak said in answer to the question. “My quarters are on the other side.”

Lotor could only stare at him in shock. “It sounds like we’ll be awfully cozy with one another.”

“Not if you remember to knock,” Sendak said. “Get some rest. You look awful.”

As soon as Sendak left, Lotor let himself lean heavily against the wall, breathing hard. It was too much all at once. He closed his eyes and slid down the wall, burying his face in his knees. He still wasn’t entirely sure this was real, but it seemed too elaborate for a hallucination.

And- if this was a hallucination, surely it would be better somehow. He’d have conjured up a glorious fleet for himself instead of a shared bathroom with _ Sendak, _ of all people. He felt a laugh bubbling up and stamped it down. He had a feeling that if he started laughing now he wouldn’t be able to stop.

He forced himself to his feet and went to shower. The water didn’t get very hot but it still felt like a luxury after his captivity. He washed his hair and ran soapy fingers over his body. He was in worse shape than he’d realized. He looked thin. There were bruises on his legs and arms that he didn’t remember getting. His hair came out in tangled clumps as he worked soap through it. He stifled another laugh, though that one felt more like a sob.

After drying himself off he stared into the mirror and felt like a stranger was staring back at him. He didn’t look… sane. His eyes were glowing faintly.

On some whim he searched through the cabinets until he found something sharp, then hacked off his hair so it hung just past his chin. He left the loose wet clump of the rest of it on the floor. Let Sendak deal with that later. He deserved that and more for what he’d said during the Kral Zera. For dragging him back here to be the Emperor of bones and dust.

Lotor returned to his bedroom and dressed in a padded jumpsuit that smelled pleasantly of soap, and threw on a warm sweater over it. It hung off him comically but it was thick and soft, swallowing him up almost like an embrace. With the lights turned low he lay on the cot and closed his eyes, praying he wouldn’t have nightmares. Would Sendak hear it, if he screamed?

It was too pathetic to contemplate.

He did have nightmares, but they seemed different than before. He still dreamed of Sincline dying around him, but he wasn’t alone anymore. Sendak stood beside him, gripping his wrist so tightly it hurt.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

They traveled for two days mostly in silence before Sendak took their fleet, such as it was, in for a landing on some wretched ice planet. Lotor wrapped himself in a thick fur coat before following Sendak through a blizzard towards a hidden door set into the face of a cliff.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw other Galra soldiers and Sentries following from their own ships, and then a particularly strong gust of wind nearly knocked him off his feet. Sendak grabbed him around the waist to keep him standing and Lotor tucked his face down to keep shards of snow and ice from flying into his eyes.

The base was frigid, the dark hallways echoing eerily as Sendak’s men brought in cargo and went about whatever tasks he’d set for them. Lotor ignored them in favor of looking around.

“Sire,” Sendak said. Lotor looked up at him uncertainly. He could see his breath in white clouds puffing up between them. “If you’ll follow me?”

Lotor nodded, shivering as he followed Sendak through the hallways. There was another set of rooms, another shared bathroom. But this bathroom had a tub in addition to a shower cubicle. His room was bigger too, the bed large and luxurious, thought the sheets were musty and every surface was covered in a thick layer of dust.

“I’ll have a Sentry come in to tidy up,” Sendak said gruffly.

“It’s fine,” Lotor said, eyeing the bed with longing. The most taxing thing he’d done all day was walk the few meters from Sendak’s ship to the entrance of the base. He still felt exhausted.

“It’s not fine,” Sendak said. “Go for a walk around the base while I have this taken care of.”

“I’m tired,” Lotor said.

“From what? You haven’t _ done _anything,” Sendak hissed. “Go.”

“I-” Lotor frowned and licked his lips. He just wanted to sleep. He didn’t want to wander the cold dark halls alone, never knowing what he’d find around the next corner.

“Do you need me to hold your hand?” Sendak scoffed.

“No,” Lotor said with a scowl. And still, he couldn’t bring himself to walk towards the door.

Sendak stared at him and Lotor flushed, ashamed at his own weakness. He didn’t want to be alone.

“It would be good for the soldiers to see us together,” Sendak said at last. “Come. I’ll show you around.” He offered his arm and Lotor scowled, turning away. They weren’t friends. They were barely even allies. In public Sendak might kneel and call him _ sire, _ but in private he would do _ this. _ Offer his arm so he could snatch it away, laugh and rub Lotor’s face in his own weakness and fears.

Sendak let his arm drop and they left the room.

The base was a decommissioned Galra mine, fallen out of use after they’d drained the rock of a planet of all its useful minerals. It was powered by geothermal energy and Lotor could hear the hum of generators diffusing through the walls, the clanking of machinery starting to work again after being inactive for too long.

Sendak showed him the main control room, the communications room, the engineering bay. There were armories and sleeping quarters, a mess hall, a training deck. It was relatively well supplied, the corridors vast. In its prime the base would have housed a compliment of thousands. Now there were barely a hundred soldiers to fill it.

There were other facilities- storage areas and lifts leading deep into the earth. There was even a pool in a room where the floor and walls were covered in grimy tiles. The water inside was a solid block of ice.

“I’ll have someone clean and refill it,” Sendak said. “You need to get your strength up. This will be better than the training deck, to start.”

“Fine,” Lotor said. He didn’t care either way.

“Let’s go back to the mess hall. It’ll be dinner soon.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Sendak stared at him for a long moment, looking at him like he’d look at a bug crushed on the sole of his boot. For the moment Lotor didn’t care. He was exhausted.

“Fine,” Sendak said. “I’ll take you back to your room.”

“Fine,” Lotor muttered. He felt dizzy on the walk back. He wasn’t used to walking this much anymore. He tried to hide it but he must have been doing a poor job of it. Sendak reached out and set his hand on the small of Lotor’s back to steady him. Even through the thick fur of the coat, the touch felt good.

Lotor didn’t mention it. And he didn’t pull away.

* * *

Sendak was often busy with the tasks of getting the mining station operational and whatever other duties he had when it came to managing his men. No one else bothered Lotor, so mostly he slept.

A few days passed before he was unceremoniously shaken awake and looked up to see Sendak scowling down at him.

“What are you doing?” Sendak demanded. “It’s past noon. You’ve missed breakfast.”

“I’m not hungry,” Lotor said, pushing Sendak’s hand off his shoulder.

Sendak stared at him. Lotor hated that stare.

“When was the last time you ate?” Sendak asked.

“I eat,” Lotor said, mostly to hide the fact that he didn’t remember.

“Alright. Get up.”

“Leave me _ alone,” _Lotor hissed, turning to lay on his side so his back was to Sendak.

“No,” Sendak said, ripping the covers away and grabbing his arm to drag him up into a sitting position. There was no point in struggling so Lotor let himself be manhandled. At least there was no one here to see but the two of them.

“Boots,” Sendak said, tossing Lotor a pair of boots.

Lotor stared at them. His hands were numb with the cold.

_ “Boots,” _Sendak growled.

Lotor picked up a boot. His fingers weren’t working quite right, trembling too hard to get the laces open.

Sendak made an impatient sound deep in his throat and knelt before him, yanking the boot out of his hands. He unlaced it deftly one-handed, then shoved Lotor’s socked foot inside and laced it up again. Lotor watched in a stupor. It wasn’t just his hands that were trembling, it was all of him. He wrapped his arms around his shoulders and let his chin drop to his chest, his short hair falling around his face like a curtain.

He felt like there was a sucking hole where his heart should be. He felt horrible.

“Stand up.”

Lotor couldn’t move, he was frozen.

“I said- _ stand up!” _

_ “Make me,” _ Lotor snarled, suddenly furious. How dare Sendak talk to him that way? He was the Emperor. He was- he was-

The anger dissipated into nothing. He had nothing. He was nothing. Everything he’d spent ten thousand years working towards was gone and he was trapped on some rock with a handful of strangers and _ Sendak. _

Sendak was staring up at him and Lotor wanted to punch him right in his stupid ugly face. He tightened his hands into fists. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“I’ll look at you however I like,” Sendak said. “Come. You’ll feel better after you eat.”

Lotor sighed in defeat. He stood. The room swam around him sickeningly, darkness stealing in around the edges. He swayed on his feet and Sendak wrapped an arm around his waist. He felt solid and warm against him and for just a moment Lotor let himself pretend that Sendak cared. And then he swallowed, and pulled back.

It was warm enough in the halls now that he didn’t need the coat. He still wore the too-large sweater, not caring if it looked ridiculous.

The mess hall was full when they arrived and Lotor faltered on the threshold as everyone turned to look at him. There were maybe eighty soldiers in all, weary and haunted as they stared at him. Lotor recognized a few faces, as unlikely as that seemed. Commander Gnov was there, sporting a few more facial scars than he remembered her having. Beside her was Bogh and Lahn.

Bogh, Lotor knew, had been part of his own faction back when he’d first taken the reins of the Empire. Sendak had attacked his base a lifetime ago. Gnov hadn’t bent the knee, but she hadn’t joined Sendak’s faction either. How strange that all these disparate Galra would be here now, under Sendak’s banner. Under _ Lotor’s _banner.

Bogh was the first one to move, rising from his seat and bringing his fist up to his chest before saying, “Vrepit Sa, Emperor Lotor.” It sounded more like a lament than a salute.

Lahn followed, his attempt more rousing. And then everyone was standing and saluting and Lotor thought he might be sick. He had no way to deliver on whatever promises Sendak had been feeding them.

He made himself nod as he walked through the hall in his ratty too-large sweater. He was all too aware of the palor in his cheeks, his roughly-cut hair, the way it seemed strangely difficult to simply walk in a straight line. Sendak walked at his left shoulder, presumably so he could catch Lotor if he stumbled and fell.

Somehow he managed to make it up to the head table and sat with Sendak beside him.

A Sentry brought over food and Lotor blinked down at it, confused. It wasn’t the bland replicator rations he’d been expecting. Instead it was a rich stew, thick with soft chunks of meat and fragrant with spices.

“What is this?” he asked.

“The same thing we’ve all been eating for the past three days,” Sendak said.

Three days. Lotor swallowed. He hadn’t realized it had been that long since he’d eaten. Had it been longer?

Sendak looked at him, and whatever he saw left him scowling as he stabbed a spoon into his own bowl almost viciously. _ “Eat,” _ he growled.

The first spoonful was something akin to bliss and Lotor’s hunger reared its head with a vengeance. He forced himself to eat slowly so he wouldn’t be sick, and so he could enjoy the feeling of warmth spreading through him.

“There’s good hunting in the mountains,” Sendak said, sounding vaguely pleased. “I took down this beast myself. It was hideous.”

“It’s delicious,” Lotor managed.

“There’s more where that came from. Eat.”

Lotor didn’t protest any more. Throughout dinner soldiers came up to report to Sendak, throwing nervous glances Lotor’s way while they droned on about repairs and scouts, progress reports on any number of mind numbing things. Sendak answered their questions and thanked them gracefully, directing his men with the ease that came with long practice.

In some ways Lotor envied him. He’d never commanded troops himself. He’d mostly made do with Sentries and his Generals, and that had turned out poorly to say the least. But this was Sendak in his element, strong and powerful in a way Lotor had wished to be, once.

After eating Lotor made his way back to bed and slept until morning, when Sendak woke him for breakfast. He continued escorting Lotor to all the meals, staring at him pointedly if Lotor refused to get out of bed. There was no use arguing. And Lotor couldn’t deny that with each passing day he felt stronger.

“The pool is ready,” Sendak said one day after dinner. “I’ll take you in the morning.”

There was no use arguing with that, either. In the morning Lotor followed him back to the pool, which had been cleaned and refilled. The air was cool but the water steamed faintly. Sendak left a Sentry to watch over him as Lotor undressed and stepped gingerly into the warm water.

Lotor slowly did a few laps, his muscles burning pleasantly. He felt oddly buoyant in the pool, and when he licked his lips he realized why. The water was saturated with salt. It would be very difficult to drown. He wondered if that was on purpose.

“Turn off the lights,” he ordered.

The lights shut down and he let himself float on his back, breathing slowly. The water was almost exactly body temperature. In the dark, with his eyes closed, he felt weightless. He felt like he was nowhere, nothing. It was peaceful. He wondered if this was what dying was like. He hoped so.

There were footsteps out in the corridor and he jerked up, disoriented and suddenly terrified.

“Lights on!” he cried out.

The lights powered on. The footsteps passed. He took a deep breath, then another. He swam another lap before climbing out, and very carefully didn’t look down at himself as he had the Sentry bring over a towel. He didn’t think he’d need Sendak to cajole him to come back here again.

* * *

Lotor ate dutifully. He didn’t make trouble. He went to the pool frequently and forced himself to swim a few laps before allowing himself the reward of turning off the lights and floating in nothingness, pretending he was dead.

The weeks passed mostly in silent monotony.

And then Sendak came to the pool with a scowl over his face.

“It’s been ages,” he growled. “I didn’t bring you here so you could mope around. We have work to do. The Coalition is only getting stronger with every day. We have to act!”

“What’s the point?” Lotor asked bitterly.

Sendak laughed, jagged and cruel. “What’s the point?” he repeated. He stalked over to the edge of the pool and knelt before taking Lotor by the hair and shoving his head under the water.

It was the last thing he’d been expecting. He panicked and screamed, the water swallowing it up as it rushed into his mouth, a burst of salt exploding over his tongue. He struggled like a wild animal but it was no use. Sendak was stronger than him on the best of days, and now he was weak and pitiful.

Lotor’s lungs burned as he fought, the spectre of death suddenly terrifying rather than comforting. Was this the end? Was this how he’d die- naked, drowned in an underground pool on some nameless planet? His vision was growing dark around the edges, everything hurt. Just as he was about to lose consciousness Sendak yanked him out and Lotor sputtered, gasping for breath.

“Do you remember what they did to you?” Sendak snarled. “Do you remember how you surrendered to them? How you gave them everything, and then they traded you away? How they sent you to your death without a second thought?”

The words barely registered. Sendak dragged him out of the pool and tossed him to the cold hard tiles. Lotor cried out in shock and pain, fighting to sit up as he coughed.

“I’ve been looking for you a long time,” Sendak said, advancing on him like a predator. “I found one of your generals. The small one, with the horns. She told me all about your final battle with Voltron. How you begged for mercy like a little bitch. How you begged them to listen to you, to give you another chance, to _ understand.” _

He kicked Lotor in the side viciously and Lotor screamed, trying to scramble away.

“And what did they do?” Sendak hissed, kneeling beside him and taking him by the throat. “They threw you away. Like nothing. Like trash. Is that what you are? Are you nothing?”

He gave Lotor a vicious shake before bearing down. Lotor had barely managed to catch his breath after nearly drowning and now he could only gasp uselessly as he grabbed at Sendak’s arm. He was as solid as steel, immovable. The tiles were like ice under Lotor’s back and tears streamed from his eyes.

“You said you were going to destroy them,” Sendak said. “Is that what you want? I can give that to you. But if you want death, I’ll give that to you too.”

Lotor lashed out, slashing Sendak in the face with his claws.

Sendak reared back, staring at him wide-eyed as he raised his hand to his cheek. His fingers came away red.

Lotor scrambled away from him, shaking. Sendak didn’t move to close the distance.

“Good,” Sendak said. “I need you. As much as I hate it, I _ need _ you. I need you to wake _ up.” _

“I’m awake,” Lotor croaked out with a glare. “Get out.”

“Yes,” Sendak said with a smirk. He inclined his head slightly and added- _ “sire,” _ before standing and turning to go.

Lotor sat shivering on the cold tiles for a long time, his mind racing. He did feel awake. He felt- shell-shocked. And scared. And hurt. It was the way he’d felt after his exile. He’d had nothing then- no resources, no allies. He’d had to do terrible things to claw his way towards some semblance of power.

It had taken him centuries before he’d been able to afford a ship of his own, a small transport craft. It had taken centuries more before he’d been comfortable enough to know where his next meal was coming from, safe enough to sleep at night without clutching a dagger to his chest.

He didn’t want to go back to those days. And he didn’t have to. Because of Sendak, everything was different.

He had a base. He had a fleet of a few dozen ships. He had nearly eighty soldiers and twice that many sentries. He had _ Commanders _on his side- Sendak and Gnov and Bogh and Lahn and maybe others. Skilled fighters, good at leading troops. Maybe more than that- he had all the groundwork he’d spent ten thousand years building.

And he had his freedom.

It was possible, he realized, to rise from this. It was possible. He’d done more with less.

The haze was fading from his mind, and all it had taken was a near-drowning and a beating. 

Lotor laughed, the sound echoing through the tiled room. It sounded hideous, vicious and angry. He remembered now what it was to feel angry. He remembered his trusted Generals betraying him. He remembered the Paladins, using him and throwing him away, dragging him through a sham trial. As though they had any right to judge him, after what they’d done.

He didn’t want to die. He wanted to burn them all down.

* * *

* * *

Back in his rooms, Lotor picked up the datapad Sendak had left for him. It contained reports on all of Sendak’s forces, his territories, his assets. It contained reports on everything that had happened in the three years Lotor had lost.

Lotor read it all. And then he read it all again.

In the morning he walked into the mess hall with his head held high, doing nothing to hide the bruising around his neck. Let the soldiers think what they liked, he wasn’t ashamed.

He walked to the head table while everyone grew silent, then stopped and turned to regard the troops. His troops.

“The Galra Empire is gone,” he announced. The soldiers grew still. The room felt like a graveyard. “The old ways are dead,” Lotor continued. “It won’t be like it was before.”

He waited to see if anyone would speak out. But of course they didn’t. They’d followed Sendak into ruin for three years now. They must have known there was no returning to how things had been.

“The age of Galra supremacy is over. We begin, instead, the age of my rule. The rule of a halfbreed. If any of you have a problem with that- you may leave with your lives. Do so now.”

He waited. No one left.

Lotor let his lips curl up into a smirk. “Good,” he purred. “Mark my words-”

He let his smirk widen so his canines were showing and lowered his voice so everyone would have to strain to hear him.

_ “We rise.” _

“Vrepit Sa!” the soldiers shouted as one.

“Commander Sendak,” Lotor said, turning to Sendak. “Attend me.”

“Yes,” Sendak said, rising from his seat. “What do you need, sire?”

“I need access to the latest star charts.”

“This way,” Sendak said.

As Lotor followed him out he heard cheering filling the hall. His heart soared. He could do this. He _ would _ do this. He’d make them all pay for what they’d done to him. He’d show them what he was capable of. 

He was capable of greatness.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please reblog, don't repost!
> 
> The first image is: [LINK](https://feathers-of-ravens.tumblr.com/post/188577614275/i-never-post-to-tumblr-heres-some-fanart-for) by [feathers-of-ravens](https://feathers-of-ravens.tumblr.com/)
> 
> The second image is: [ LINK](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/188548497425/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask) by [barbitone](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out this awesome fanart for chapter 2!!! [LINK](https://feathers-of-ravens.tumblr.com/post/188577614275/i-never-post-to-tumblr-heres-some-fanart-for) by [feathers-of-ravens](https://feathers-of-ravens.tumblr.com/)

* * *

“Is this it?” Lotor asked as Sendak showed him the star charts.

“There’s more, but they aren’t up to date.”

“Show me anyway.”

Sendak showed him. Lotor looked through the holograms thoughtfully, tapping his chin. He had dozens of hidden facilities spread throughout the universe, all of them potentially useful. He doubted they’d been discovered, but he needed to check all the same.

“The fighters. Do any of them have stealth capabilities?”

“No.”

So that was the first thing he needed to tackle. That was alright. He knew what needed to be done.

He poured over the maps with Sendak for the rest of the day, eating when Sentries brought over food. He summoned the soldiers with engineering skills and drew up blueprints, and set them to their work.

Time seemed to slip past in a whirlwind. Lotor directed the work in the engineering bay, installing cloaking capabilities in the fighters first and then the larger ships. He sent an encrypted message to his Altean colony only to get no response. That could only mean one thing- the colony was empty, the Alteans dead or enslaved. Or turned against him.

It ached, but he hardened his heart and moved forward, sending out scouts to see what had become of his other bases.

Some of the bases were empty- raided of all their supplies and equipment or simply destroyed. It didn’t escape Lotor’s notice that the empty bases were the ones that Ezor and Zethrid had known about. The bases only Acxa knew the coordinates for were untouched. Either she was dead, or she knew well enough to leave them alone. He wasn’t sure which outcome pleased him more.

He sent out men and Sentries to run the intact bases and facilities, to build ships and gather supplies. He upgraded the Sentries, the mining facility, Sendak’s ships. He monitored the spread of the Coalition, and planned, and schemed.

He swam laps in the pool to build up muscle, and once he was stronger he started sparring with Sendak and the other Commanders. Lahn, being the youngest and least experienced, was the one that Lotor beat first. And then kept beating, consistently. Then he got the best of Bogh, then Gnov.

When he first defeated Sendak in a duel, the larger Galra looked up at him with such shock in his remaining eye that Lotor laughed, striking a purposefully jaunty pose with his hand on his hip and his head cocked to the side.

“I was in even better form than this during the Kral Zera,” he taunted, raising an eyebrow. “In case you had any lingering doubts about who would have been the victor of our duel.”

Sendak’s shock faded into a smile that seemed to have something like warmth behind it. “To be fair, I am handicapped.” He raised and lowered his left shoulder pointedly. It didn’t exactly feel like disagreement. It felt like… teasing.

“That arm was hideous,” Lotor said, sheathing his sword as Sendak rose to his feet. “You’re better off without it. I’ve been meaning to make a new one for you, anyway. I gave one of the reconnaissance teams instructions to bring back equipment and materials from one of my research bases. I can begin once they return.”

Sendak’s eye widened a little in surprise.

“If you have any requirements or preferences,” Lotor said awkwardly, “you can let me know. I don’t imagine you’ve had much choice about the design or function of your prosthetics in the past.”

“Oh,” Sendak said. “I… would appreciate it. To have input in the process.”

The moment stretched oddly and Lotor looked away with a scowl. “I absolutely refuse to make anything hideous.”

“Of course,” Sendak said, the familiar smirk returning. “Sire.”

“A replacement eye will have to wait, I’m afraid,” Lotor said. “An arm is simple in comparison, pure mechanics. And with the eye connecting to the optic nerve any wrong move could fry your brain. We’ll have to wait until we find someone more experienced for that.”

“That’s fine,” Sendak said. “The eyepatch makes me look quite dashing. The ladies love it.”

“Do they,” Lotor said, feeling a strange fluttering in his gut. “And the men?”

“Not so much,” Sendak said. “So I fuck them in the dark.”

“I see,” Lotor said, his mouth dry. “If you don’t wish to spar again, I have duties to attend to.”

Sendak inclined his head and Lotor walked away, his heart pounding even though the adrenaline of their bout was far behind him.

* * *

Sendak came back to his rooms after dinner so they could work on the design of his arm together.

“I miss my flesh arm,” Sendak said thoughtfully during the first planning session.

“I can make the prosthetic to match,” Lotor suggested.

“Yes,” Sendak nodded.

Lotor had Sendak take off his shirt and carefully didn’t look him in the face as he took measurements of his remaining arm and examined the stump of the missing one so he could better plan how to connect prosthetic to flesh. 

Sendak had an impressive physique, but that wasn’t what Lotor was there for so he didn’t look. Mostly he didn’t look.

They decided on the extra features together- mostly battle capabilities, though Sendak also had _ other _ ideas.

“I want the fingers to vibrate,” he announced during their third meeting.

“What?” Lotor asked, thrown for a loop. _ “Why?” _

Sendak raised his eyebrows pointedly.

Lotor could only stare at him in shock. “I’m not here to- to- design you sex toys.”

“There are plenty of situations in which vibrating fingers can be of use. I also want temperature controls. Hot and cold. And I want it to conduct and generate electricity.”

“Fine,” Lotor muttered, and didn’t ask further.

Once the reconnaissance team came back with the supplies he needed, Lotor built the prosthetic and had it installed within the week.

“How is it?” he asked as he stared at Sendak sitting shirtless on a lab table.

Sendak curled the fingers experimentally before letting them go slack, then ran his flesh hand over the new limb. His mouth fell open in surprise. “I can… _ feel-” _

“You didn’t mention adding receptors,” Lotor said self-consciously. “But you did say- I figured. It would be closer to your flesh arm that way.”

“I like it,” Sendak said simply. And then he waggled his fingers and watched, entranced, as sparks played over them.

“Careful with that,” Lotor said. “You can raise the voltage high enough to kill.”

“Turn it down, then,” Sendak said. “That’s not what it’s for.”

“There’s a safety switch,” Lotor said, pointing to a small control panel at Sendak’s inner elbow. He’d spent ten thousand years never once considering Sendak’s love life, and now he felt confronted by it at every turn.

He looked away to put away his tools and looked back to see Sendak staring at his hand, though now it was red hot and crackling with energy. There was a smell of ozone in the air.

“If you’re going to play with that thing do it somewhere else,” Lotor said, tossing him his shirt.

“Don’t you want to be here for testing in case it malfunctions?”

“It’s not going to malfunction,” Lotor said. “I do good work.”

“Yes,” Sendak said with a grin, letting his hand grow dark before pulling his shirt back on. “Don’t expect to beat me during our next spar.”

“We’ll see,” Lotor said.

* * *

Maybe it was the new arm, maybe it was the fact that with Lotor’s resources now pooled together with Sendak’s they seemed to be making steady progress. Either way, Sendak seemed pleased.

It was strange to work with him, but mostly Sendak was content to take Lotor’s lead so they rarely butted heads. And then he showed up to Lotor’s rooms one morning, smirking.

“What is it?” Lotor asked, trying to stay cold as he laced up his boots.

It was difficult, with what Sendak had done for him. Rescued him, supported him. To this day, Sendak had been the only one to touch him since…

Since a long time.

“Today is your birthday,” Sendak said.

“My- _ what?” _Lotor asked.

“Your birthday,” Sendak said, slower. 

“No, it isn’t,” Lotor said. He had no idea when his birthday was, and he doubted anyone else did either. Maybe there was a record of it somewhere, but he’d never bothered checking and after the fall of the Empire it had most certainly been lost or destroyed.

“I’ve decided that it’s today,” Sendak said. “So it’s today. The men have been working hard, they deserve a break. We’ll have a celebration tonight. Before then I’m taking a small group into the mountains for a hunt. You should come with us.”

Lotor let out a startled laugh. “And will you be having me cook my birthday meal as well as catch it?”

“If you like,” Sendak said with a smirk. “Come. When’s the last time you breathed fresh air?”

“Just yesterday. When I went out to install a jump drive on the hunk of trash you call a ship.”

“That hardly counts,” Sendak said. “Have you ever been on a hunt?”

“Yes,” Lotor said. He’d had to provide for himself through any number of savage pursuits in the early days of his exile. “I don’t associate the activity with a pleasant time in my life.”

“This will be different,” Sendak said, undeterred.

“Crouching in the dirt while waiting for something to wander along so you can kill it is always the same.”

“This will be different,” Sendak insisted. “As the birthday boy, you’ll be drunk.” He tossed over a flask and Lotor nearly fumbled it in shock.

“Oh yes, playing with weapons while drunk is always a great idea,” Lotor said dryly. Nevertheless he unscrewed the top and took a careful sniff, recoiling as his eyes started to water from the fumes. “This is an elaborate assassination attempt, isn’t it.”

Sendak laughed. Lotor stared up at him. He’d never heard Sendak laugh before. It was a pleasant sound, deep and resonant.

“You know I prefer to take a more straight-forward approach,” he said when he calmed.

“I’m not entirely convinced,” Lotor said, looking down to hide his smile. He took a swig of the liquor. It was only sheer willpower that prevented him from immediately spitting it back out. It burned down his throat and settled in his gut, the feeling somewhat pleasant. The second drink went down a little easier.

“Well don’t hog it all,” Sendak grumbled, reaching to take it back. “It’ll be weeks before Hepta finishes distilling another batch.”

“Excuse me, are _ you _the birthday boy?” Lotor asked, feeling giddy as he pulled the flask out of Sendak’s reach, teasing him for a moment before tossing it back. Sendak took a drink while Lotor pulled on a pair of gloves and the oversized fur coat.

They walked through the halls together, the soldiers they met saluting respectfully as they passed.

Lahn was waiting outside with a handful of men and just as many hoverbikes. And spears.

“You’re joking,” Lotor said, his eyes widening. “Can’t we just- we’re a spacefaring race! We have- laser guns, and-”

“That wouldn’t be very sporting,” Sendak said.

Lahn clapped his hands together twice before opening them like he was waiting for something. Sendak tossed him the flask. Lahn drank and passed it around to the other men before it made its way back to Lotor.

“This is- ridiculous,” Lotor said. “And- unsafe.”

“It’s for warmth,” Sendak said. “Drink up, birthday boy.”

“I- can’t,” Lotor protested. He already felt overly warm, pleasantly dizzy. He didn’t make a habit of drinking, it wasn’t safe to be impaired. He hadn’t been properly drunk since before his exile. “I’m already not sure it’s safe for me to drive.”

“You ride with me,” Sendak said, nodding over to one of the hoverbikes.

“I-” Lotor blinked a few times in surprise. He hadn’t noticed before- for a group of eight men there were only seven bikes. 

The flask was still in his hand. He drank deeply while the men laughed and cheered. Lahn was impressed at his ability to keep a straight face and said as much. Someone clapped him on the back and dared him to drink again while Sendak grumbled and took the flask away.

Lotor felt himself flushing with more than the alcohol. He’d never had this sort of easy camaraderie before. As a boy he’d been bullied at worst and ignored at best by Galra his age. Once he was older he had servants and subordinates, and later- Generals. Despite how close he’d felt to them at times, there had been a hierarchy in place that prevented them from being truly friendly.

“Let’s get a move on,” Sendak said, mounting a hoverbike. He tossed a pair of goggles backwards and Lotor caught them, pulling them on before sitting behind Sendak. It was strange to be this close, stranger still to initiate touch at all. All the other times had been Sendak grabbing him, dragging him around. Strangling him.

Now Lotor’s chest was pressed up against the warm expanse of his broad back. He could hardly believe it even as he wrapped his arms around Sendak’s middle.

Sendak started the bike and it rumbled pleasantly beneath him, and then they were off and Lotor’s breath caught in his throat. He knew how to ride a hoverbike, obviously. He’d done it before plenty of times, but not for a while. He preferred flying, being encased in solid dependable steel and all the safety features that offered, the carefully-maintained distance between himself and the world around him. In comparison the bike felt dangerous and thrilling, the frigid air whistling past them exhilarating.

Sendak took them up a narrow cliffside track at an alarming speed and Lotor gripped him tighter, hiding his face against his back. He could already feel his lips getting chapped, his cheeks growing ruddy. If it weren’t for the alcohol buzzing through his system and the howling wind that would no doubt steal his words away, he might have called this whole thing off. And then he turned his head and gasped at the stunning view unfolding around them.

They were already high up and the valley below was spread out in an endless field of white. On the other side, mountains rose jagged and proud into the sky- their snow-covered peaks glistening brilliantly in the sunshine.

Sendak turned sharply and they were speeding deeper into the mountain range, still getting higher. There were trees lining the path now, tall pines as green as emeralds and vibrantly alive.

Lotor wasn’t used to being planet-side, wasn’t used to _ nature _at all, especially places as wild as this. The snow they sped over was an untouched blanket before their passing furled it into deep wide tracks, blazing a trail into the wilderness. It lasted for a long time, and when Sendak finally pulled them to a stop Lotor found that his knees were shaking.

“Alright?” Sendak asked when Lotor stumbled. Sendak wrapped an arm around his waist to steady him and Lotor laughed.

“I’m- yes,” he said. It was all he could say. They were in a clearing amidst tall pines. There was a strange hush in the air, like the place was somehow sacred.

“We go on foot from here. Keep an eye out for game trails.”

Lotor nodded. He’d forgotten why they’d come out here in the first place, but with some distaste he remembered. Killing things.

For a while their small band continued on foot. Lotor found himself more interested in the birds roosting in the trees than any larger game they might find. They came upon a set of tracks eventually and followed it for a while, but didn’t manage to catch up to whatever beast had made them.

Sendak passed him the flask and he drank again, feeling warmth spreading through him down to his bones. An hour passed, maybe two. The men started talking amongst themselves, joking and laughing loudly. He’d expected Sendak to hush them but instead he simply joined in. Surely with the racket they were making they were scaring all the prey away.

Lotor found himself becoming bored as the day wore on, and then something cold and wet hit him in the back of the head.

“What was that?” he demanded as he turned to find Lahn snickering, his gloves dusted with snow.

“An assassination attempt!” Sendak cried out dramatically. “You fiend!” He scooped up a giant handful of snow and pelted it at Lahn before grabbing Lotor’s hand. “I’ll get you to safety, sire!”

He took off running and Lotor laughed, flushed and happy as he struggled to keep up with Sendak’s loping gait. Lahn and the others chased after them, throwing snowballs and whooping with joy.

“Here,” Sendak said, pulling him behind an outcropping of rock. He let go of Lotor to start frantically making snowballs, piling up a small arsenal. Lotor joined him, hiccuping with laughter. When Lahn and the others got closer Lotor and Sendak moved out of their hiding spot and rained snow down on them. And then Sendak shoved a handful of snow down the back of Lotor’s coat and Lotor gasped in shock.

“Traitor!” he cried out, shoving Sendak in the chest and sending him sprawling into a snowbank.

It was chaos after that.

It was ridiculous and fun. It was his first snowball fight.

Somehow he ended up facing all of them, running through the forest and weaving through the trees to avoid their cold missiles. And then he turned sharply and jumped to pull on a snow-laden branch just as the others caught up with him. The resulting snowfall nailed most of his attackers and they knelt in surrender, bowing their heads in contrition.

“I am a merciful Emperor,” Lotor announced, still giddy. “I’ll forgive you all, if only you’ll pass me the flask.”

There was a round of laughter and backpatting before they started back to the bikes. By the time they reached them Lotor found himself almost regretting the snowball fight. His gloves were soaked through, his hands freezing. He sat behind Sendak and wrapped his arms around him, clasping his hands together.

He startled a little when he felt Sendak’s left hand covering both of his own, pleasantly warm. Temperature controls. It seemed they had useful applications after all.

Sendak didn’t say anything as he started the bike and set an easy pace back down out of the mountains and towards the base. Lotor kept his cheek pressed to Sendak’s back as he watched the world passing around them. The sun was setting, painting the sky in glorious pinks and purples and yellows, a slowly undulating tapestry of wispy clouds.

Lotor’s hands weren’t cold anymore. He wasn’t cold anywhere. He felt good and oddly enough, safe. The strange safety that came from being with someone who could have killed him easily, time and again, and hadn’t.

It was full dark by the time they walked back into the base and Lotor’s stomach was grumbling. He pulled off his goggles and gloves, his coat. Sendak took the garments out of his hands and handed them off to a nearby Sentry before setting one of his giant hands on the small of Lotor’s back.

“Come,” he said, so Lotor went.

The atmosphere in the halls seemed different, charged with a shivering excitement and anticipation. The soldiers they passed had smiles on their faces. The air smelled different too- smoke and spice, musk and pine.

The hunting party entered the mess hall to the sound of raucous cheering and Lotor blinked a few times, sure he was seeing things.

The mess hall was changed beyond recognition. The metal chairs and tables were gone, the floor covered in mismatched rugs and blankets and pillows. The walls were decorated with wreaths woven from pine branches and the only light came from a bonfire in the center, over which someone had set up a giant chunk of roasting meat.

The ventilation system was working at full strength but still a thick layer of smoke clung to the ceiling. There was a strange feeling to the proceedings- to the Galra soldiers sitting on the ground with tankards of what Lotor could only assume to be wine or ale, to the flickering firelight, the thick smell of savory roasting meat filling the air.

It felt like a Galra feast from ancient times, back when they’d been a loose conglomeration of warring tribes, living in caves. It felt like the sorts of celebrations he’d read about in fairytales as a boy. Sendak led him to the head of the room, where the blankets and pillows were piled a bit thicker than anywhere else, and bid him to sit.

The other Commanders were already there and Gnov shoved a cup of ale into his hands with a grin. Bogh patted him on the back. A Sentry came by with a hunk of meat on a plate and he picked it up with his fingers before taking a bite.

A cheer went up in the hall. Apparently that had been the unofficial signal that the rest of the assembled Galra could start eating as well.

“But we didn’t- catch anything,” Lotor managed. His thoughts were swirling too hard with a mix of emotions he wasn’t familiar with to say anything more sensible.

“Today’s hunt wasn’t about the kill,” Sendak said, drinking deep from his own mug of ale.

Lotor smiled and kept eating, ravenous after a day spent outdoors and full of childish rough-housing.

Someone brought out a drum. Someone threw fragrant herbs on the fire. Bogh stood and went down into the center of the room, drawing his sword. A slender Galra wearing a helmet came out to join him and they had a play match, clearly choreographed.

It ended with Bogh defeated on the ground while the slender Galra pulled off her helmet. Her long hair tumbled dramatically down to her mid-back and she struck a jaunty pose while everyone cheered and laughed.

Bogh retreated back to the head table, such as it was, while the woman stalked through the room, glaring at everyone around her. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and struck another pose before pointing her sword at a lanky soldier.

“Throk!” she announced, and Lotor’s eyes widened as he nearly dropped his cup of ale. “You wish to challenge me? Then come and claim your crown!”

“What are they-” Lotor managed. “Is that supposed to be _ me?” _

“No thanks!” the lanky Galra cried out, shaking his head. “Must have been someone else! I wouldn’t like to challenge you today, no sir!”

The woman waited patiently as “Throk’s” friends pushed him to his feet and into the center of the room. He made a rather poor showing, cowering away from the woman’s blows until he was defeated.

“Off with you, coward!” the woman pretending to be Lotor cried out.

“Woe is me! Woe is me!” the lanky Galra moaned, crawling back to his seat.

“That’s- not how it happened at all,” Lotor managed, drawing his knee up to wrap an arm around it. 

Sendak laughed, elbowing him in the side. “Maybe the next one will be more to your liking.”

“The _ next-” _

But they were already starting. The woman pretending to be him left briefly only to be carried back in on the shoulders of two Sentries. They’d been haphazardly smeared with soot, painted black. “Halt! Your true Emperor has arrived!” she announced as the audience cheered.

A particularly large Galra limped into the circle of light wearing a towel on his head in a makeshift cowl. He pointed a shaking finger at the woman. “You can’t be the Emperor! You’re a halfbreed!”

The audience booed him demonstratively, though their jeering was interspersed with good-natured laughter.

“Watch me, witch!” the woman cried out. “I do what I want!” She proceeded to chase “Haggar” around the fire, and once “Haggar” was vanquished she fought another Galra who had some sort of metal sheeting wrapped around his right arm.

“Is that supposed to be- _ you?” _Lotor asked as the woman playing Lotor fought “Sendak” and chased him out of the room, slapping his backside with the flat of her sword.

The real Sendak simply laughed.

There was some sort of choreographed dance with torches, followed by a dramatic reenactment of Lotor’s trial. In this version he escaped his bonds and proceeded to single handedly defeat all the Paladins and set the courtroom on fire, from what Lotor could gather through his tears of laughter.

Once the show was finished the woman grinned and saluted the head table before bowing to the enthusiastically cheering crowd. And then there was drinking, and dancing, and more food, and drunken toasts. Galra soldiers walked up and bowed before presenting him with gifts- small trinkets for the most part, as they had nothing else to give. Lotor graciously accepted countless pretty stones and shiny bits of metal, boughs of pine and strips of cloth, until he had a pile of useless but lovingly assembled junk at his feet.

The Commanders had more impressive gifts for him. Bogh gave him thick leather gloves, and Lahn a fur-lined cloak. Gnov gave him a pair of new boots and Sendak gave him a fine dagger. There was more drinking and carrying on, and everything blurred a bit after that.

Lotor tried to soak it all in, the strange mix of respect and jovial insolence, the hope and joy that filled the hall. It was nearly beyond belief that something like this could be for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out this awesome fanart for chapter 2!!! [LINK](https://feathers-of-ravens.tumblr.com/post/188577614275/i-never-post-to-tumblr-heres-some-fanart-for) by [feathers-of-ravens](https://feathers-of-ravens.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

Lotor woke slowly, pleasantly warm even though his mouth tasted foul and his head seemed full of fog. He blinked as he tried to get his bearings. The room was dimly lit with a sputtering candle on the nightstand that smelled pleasantly of citrus and pine. And-

It wasn’t his room. There was a heavy weight over his waist and he shoved himself up into a sitting position in alarm. The weight fell away, the sheets shifted. There was a quiet groan from beside him.

“What is this?” Lotor demanded. Where-

“It’s too early for this,” came Sendak’s unmistakable voice, sleep-rough and too-loud for Lotor’s pounding head. He winced and massaged his temples. Had they…?

But no, he was wearing his pants and his shirt. He didn’t feel particularly unusual other than the dizziness and nausea of his hangover, certainly not… _ sore _in any place he shouldn’t be.

“Why am I here?” Lotor asked. These were Sendak’s rooms, they had to be. Sendak’s armor was strewn about the floor.

“You puked in your bed,” Sendak grumbled. “Was I supposed to just leave you to sleep in a puddle of sick?”

Lotor groaned, dropping his face into his hands. He felt too awful to be embarrassed at the moment. “I’m never drinking again,” he muttered. “I feel terrible.”

“Here,” Sendak said, dragging him back down so his back was tucked against Sendak’s chest.

Lotor flushed, tensing. “I should-”

Sendak set his left hand over Lotor’s face, covering his eyes and forehead. His hand was pleasantly cold, his thumb rubbing small circles against Lotor’s temple.

_ “Oh,” _ Lotor breathed out helplessly, closing his eyes as most of the ache faded. “Temperature controls.”

“Shut up,” Sendak grumbled. “I’m asleep.”

Lotor snorted out a laugh, feeling strangely dizzy. Could he still be drunk from the previous night?

“Hush,” Sendak said, and when Lotor relaxed against him he made a low pleased sound deep in his chest, like a purr. The candle on the nightstand sputtered and went out with a quiet hiss, the air filling with the pleasant smell of smoke.

The next time he woke it was because Sendak had gotten up and was dressing quietly. Lotor could just make out his silhouette in the light streaming into the room through the crack under the door leading to the hallway.

Lotor shifted, stretching. “I should-”

“You should nothing,” Sendak said. “Stay here, sleep. I’ll fetch you for dinner.”

“I feel like death,” Lotor complained, rolling over to press his face into the pillow. “Why are you so annoyingly chipper?”

“Because I have sense enough not to get into a drinking contest with Gnov,” Sendak said.

Lotor had no recollection of any drinking contest. “Did I win?”

“No,” Sendak said with a quiet laugh. “It’s still not even noon. Sleep it off.”

Lotor didn’t protest, drifting off again before Sendak had even left the room. He dozed off and on, not rising until late afternoon when he pulled himself out of the comfortable cocoon of blankets and went to run himself a bath.

It was a relief to take off his musky and sweaty clothes and sink into the warm water. He washed quickly and then just soaked, putting a cool washcloth over his eyes and forehead as he thought longingly of Sendak’s cold hand on him earlier. That had been better.

Still- sleeping in, a hot bath, not being worried for once. It was one strange luxury after another.

He stayed in the bath for a while, letting his mind drift idly. In the end he wasn’t sure what it was that alerted him that something had changed, but he pulled the washcloth off his face and blinked slowly to adjust to the brightness of the room. Sendak was standing in the doorframe, leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, watching him.

Lotor watched back. Maybe he should have felt self conscious but he didn’t. Sendak had seen him at his worst, dirty and on the edge of madness in a jail cell. He’d seen him naked and emaciated, despairing. And then there had been whatever foolishness Lotor had drunkenly gotten up to last night, that he didn’t even want to contemplate.

“Shouldn’t you kneel for your Emperor?” Lotor asked.

Sendak shrugged easily. “If you like.” He ran his eyes down Lotor’s body in a way that made his mouth go dry. 

“Hand me a towel,” Lotor said, looking away and trying not to flush.

Sendak handed him a towel. He didn’t look away as Lotor rose from the bath and wrapped the soft cloth around himself.

“Your clothes are in your room,” Sendak said. “It’s nearly time for dinner.”

Lotor nodded and waited for Sendak to leave before turning to go back into his own room. It seemed oddly empty. Cold. He noticed with slight annoyance that Sendak’s room was bigger and had finer furniture. And then he noticed his bed, the sheets clean and tidy. They were the same sheets that had been on his bed the night before.

It seemed that Sendak hadn’t been entirely honest about Lotor puking in his bed.

Lotor scowled, dressing quickly in his new boots and cloak, sliding the new dagger into the sheath at his belt even though he was tempted to leave it on the table in anger.

“You lied to me,” he said, stomping back into Sendak’s room through their shared bathroom.

Sendak seemed taken aback.

“You _ lied,” _ Lotor repeated, pointing an accusing finger at him. “Why was I in your bed last night? I didn’t puke. What happened?”

“Lotor,” Sendak said slowly.

“What happened?” Lotor asked, his voice rising.

“You asked me not to leave,” Sendak said.

“I wouldn’t,” Lotor said, flushing with anger and embarrassment. “I _ wouldn’t.” _

“You would. You did. You said you didn’t want to be alone. You said-” Sendak broke off awkwardly, looking away. “You said you missed… being touched gently. You said I was the only one who-”

“Stop,” Lotor said, his heart thundering in his chest. He was mortified. He’d had those thoughts before, he knew he did. The thought that he’d just let it all _ spill out _like that was horrifying.

“I’m sorry I lied,” Sendak said, taking a step closer. “I thought it would have been... easier for you.”

“I- I don’t…” Lotor swallowed nervously. “I was drunk.”

“Yes.”

“I-” Lotor looked up and saw an oddly soft look in Sendak’s eyes. “I don’t need your _ pity,” _he hissed, angry and afraid. “I don’t need you to- to-”

“I didn’t do it out of pity,” Sendak said. “I liked holding you in my arms. I liked having you close. I like you.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Lotor scoffed. Sendak hated him.

Sendak took another step closer. And then he was close enough to reach out and set his flesh hand on the side of Lotor’s face and he was leaning in. Lotor couldn’t move. He wasn’t sure if this was some dream or another hallucination. He hadn’t had one of those for a while, but what other explanation could there be for the way Sendak was looking at him, leaning towards him.

Their lips brushed and Lotor gasped, his eyes falling shut. His hands rose of their own accord to fist in Sendak’s cloak. Sendak’s lips were soft and lightly parted against his. It was little more than a gentle touch and still it took up all his senses.

Sendak stroked his cheek with his thumb and then his other hand was at the back of Lotor’s neck and he was tilting his head to a better angle, deepening the kiss. Lotor kissed him back, confused and desperate and suddenly so needy he could hardly bear it.

When Sendak pulled back Lotor chased him without thinking, but Sendak pressed a finger to his lips and smiled.

“Dinner,” he said quietly.

“Yes,” Lotor whispered. “Dinner.” His lips were tingling. He had no idea what any of this meant. How long had it been since he’d kissed anyone?

His mood soured.

He’d kissed Allura after their successful test of Sincline’s ability to enter the rift. It had been three years but it felt like a matter of months for him. Less.

She’d abandoned and betrayed him, thrown him away. Would Sendak do the same?

“What’s wrong?” Sendak asked.

“Nothing,” Lotor said curtly. “I’m hungry.”

Sendak offered his arm and Lotor didn’t take it, walking ahead of him towards the mess hall. It wouldn’t be wise to get involved like that. With anyone.

The hall was already full when he walked in and he stopped abruptly when everyone turned to him and started cheering. His dark mood lifted. He smiled as he walked to the head table. The tables and chairs had been set back into place, there was no trace of the previous night’s revelry except for the smell of smoke hanging heavy in the air.

Dinner was pleasant enough, and when he rose at the end of it the soldiers started banging their cups and plates on the tables, chanting for a speech.

Lotor raised his hand and they all fell silent, looking up at him in admiration.

“The time has come,” Lotor started, “for us to leave this refuge. To go up into the stars and claim our rightful place of supremacy. Our ranks will soon swell with Galra and non-Galra alike. But I will never forget all of you, and your place in our Empire. You are our beginning, our golden core. You are the seeds that will sprout a forest, the embers that will kindle a wildfire.

“You are my people, and I am your Emperor. We rise!”

_ “We rise!” _the soldiers chanted, again and again. It was a glorious chorus, a song and a promise. A new salute, replacing the old. Old ways making way for new, an Empire that he would build in his own image.

_ We rise. _

* * *

“Clearly you have a plan,” Gnov said during their strategy meeting the following day. “Would you care to clue us in?”

“It’s simple enough,” Lotor said, pulling up a star chart. “There must be other Galra dissidents out there. Others who are unsatisfied with the rule of the Voltron Coalition. We’ll raid their prisons and take the prisoners for our own faction.

“Or not, if they choose to leave. I have no need for disloyal troops. And those who choose to make their own way will add to the chaos, and indirectly- to our cause. Here-”

He pointed to an asteroid that used to house a Galra prison, but had since been converted to one used by the Coalition. “We’ll strike here with the main part of our forces, and send smaller teams to these others.”

He pointed out three more prisons on the map.

“If we coordinate our attacks, they’ll get word too late to stop us.”

Gnov smirked. “Do we have prisoner manifests?”

“We’ll get them after we infiltrate the facilities,” Lotor said. “I’m not feeling particularly picky. If they bend the knee we’ll take them. If they cause trouble later- we’ll discipline them. But surely there are Galra, at least, who would be glad to join us.”

Bogh was the first to nod. “Yes, sire.”

“I’ll lead the main team,” Lotor said. “Two dozen cloaked fighters will be enough for the initial assault, and we’ll bring a few mid-size ships to transport the prisoners. Commander Gnov will lead the strike on the second facility, Commander Bogh will take the third. Commander Sendak will raid the fourth.”

“No,” Sendak said firmly.

Lotor scowled. “What do you mean _ no?” _

“Lahn should lead the fourth team. I’ll be with you.”

“You have the most experience-”

“Which is why I should be with you,” Sendak said. “You’re the Emperor. You shouldn’t be going out into the field like this to start with, but since you’ll no doubt insist on doing so- you can’t go unguarded.”

“I can take care of myself,” Lotor said.

“I’m sure you can,” Sendak said evenly. Lotor couldn’t help flushing at that, remembering all the times that he’d been quite incapable of it. Remembering Sendak forcing him to eat and lacing up his boots. Pressing a cool hand to his aching forehead.

“How dare you speak to me with such insolence?” Lotor asked coldly.

“It isn’t insolence,” Sendak said. “I’d never question you in public, but this isn’t public. This is your war council. Would you prefer us to cower before you like worms? Or do you want to benefit from our tactical experience? This is a matter of strategy. If we lose you, we lose everything. Sire.”

“He’s right,” Gnov said. Bogh was nodding slowly. Lahn seemed unsure, balking at the thought of speaking out against his Emperor.

“So you all agree,” Lotor said flatly. It wasn’t a question, he could see that it was so. “And what if I don’t? What if I order you to lead the fourth team, Commander?”

Sendak gritted his teeth in annoyance. “Then I will obey.”

Lotor looked back at the star charts, the plans. They were right. That didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Fine,” he said at last. “Commander Lahn will lead the fourth team, and you’ll be with me. How quickly can we mobilize our fleet?”

“Three days,” Gnov said.

“Good,” Lotor said, turning back to the maps, already charting a course that would take them past a few of his hidden manufacturing facilities. “We’ll set off together to start, stopping here, here, and here,” he said, pointing at spots on the map. “We’ll resupply and pick up the newly finished fighters before parting ways and traveling to our targets. We’ll coordinate the attack so we can act simultaneously.

“Who are our ten best pilots?”

Gnov pulled up a crew manifest and rattled off some names. Lotor made his choices, sending four teams of two on stealth reconnaissance missions to the prisons, while the last pair would be sent as advance messengers to his bases, telling them to be ready.

“I’ll leave it to my war council to decide how we’ll divide the fleet,” Lotor said, looking at each of his Commanders in turn. “I want your recommendations in the morning.”

They took that statement as the dismissal it was.

“Emperor Lotor,” they said in unison, bringing their fists to their chests. “We rise.”

Lotor nodded before sweeping out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

“We’re within visual range of the prison,” Sendak said quietly. 

They were on Sendak’s ship, the cargo ship turned raider. Although it was significantly more impressive now than it had been when Lotor had first stepped aboard after his rescue. He’d upgraded it with a jump drive, ion cannons, stealth capabilities. He’d added hull plating to change the profile to something closer to a typical merchant ship rather than a simple freighter.

Furthermore, the ship now housed a full complement of three dozen Sentries, though the bio crew was limited to Lotor and Sendak. The other soldiers that were part of their team followed in cloaked fighters, flying in tight formation. There were two more cargo ships waiting a few leagues back. They’d come into play once the prison was taken and they were ready to liberate the prisoners.

“On screen,” Lotor said, tapping his fingers against the armrest of the captain’s chair.

Sendak didn’t protest at being asked to perform the duties of a simple informations officer, his fingers flying confidently over his console. The prison appeared on screen- a blocky facility built into an uninhabited moon, little more than a rock.

Lotor stood and walked closer, inspecting the facility carefully. There was a prison transport docked at the station and he stepped up to a free console to run scans.

“Fifty prisoners,” he muttered. “It looks like most of the personnel are Sentries, though there are perhaps a dozen life signs amongst the guards.”

“Confirmed,” Sendak said.

“Lieutenant Hepta,” Lotor said into the comms. “Launch the communications satellite. I want to intercept all signals coming and going from the facility.”

_ “Confirmed,” _ Hepta said. His fighter broke formation and he took position on the far side of the moon before launching a small satellite. If the prison had scanners, they’d write it off as a piece of debris. _ “Satellite operational. Intercept protocol live.” _

“Good. Infiltration team- prepare to engage.”

_ “Ready.” _

Lotor tightened his lips as he watched his fighters shifting into the infiltration formation. He’d been intending to be part of the infiltration team himself, but Sendak had pushed back on that too. Fighting him was too tiresome, so Lotor had finally conceded his point and agreed to stay back to direct the troops.

“Engage,” Lotor said.

Half a dozen fighters carefully landed in strategic spots on the facility, where their initial recon indicated they wouldn’t trip the sensors.

He could only watch and wait while the men infiltrated the prison, carefully monitoring their positions in relation to the sentries.

_ “Sire, we’ve infiltrated their system,” _ one of the soldiers said. _ “Sending uplink now.” _

“Good,” Lotor purred, smiling as he watched his console display shift to show the prison’s systems. From here he had access to their security feeds, their prisoner manifest, their emergency protocols. Everything. “Starting phase two.”

He’d written the virus in advance, but he took the time to adjust it slightly with what he knew of the systems. They weren’t in a rush and he wanted to do this right.

“Deploying the virus,” he announced and watched with glee as the prison’s systems lit up at his command. An alarm went up- a sign of catastrophic failure, a chain reaction that triggered a self destruct system. The prison sent out a frantic message to Coalition Central Command, intercepted by Lotor’s satellite. He waited a few beats before sending a response. He didn’t have Coalition access codes but he had control of the prison’s system. It was easy enough to make the system display the message as legitimate.

_ Evacuate. _

The facility’s destruction was imminent, there was no time to evacuate the prisoners. The dozen or so biological personnel launched in escape pods.

“Destroy them,” Lotor said, almost bored. His cloaked fighters sprang into action, easily ripping through the unsuspecting escape pods. He shut down the alarm ringing through the facility and the so-called self-destruct sequence. He shut down the sentries.

It was practically child's play.

“All units, move in,” he ordered before turning to Sendak. “Shall we see what we’ve won?”

“Yes, sire,” Sendak said, and took them in for a landing.

The hangar was swarming with Lotor’s troops and his Sentries, already starting to reprogram the prison’s droids that lay where they’d fallen when Lotor had sent the deactivation signal. He watched with satisfaction as his ranks swelled before his eyes.

“I want that ship as well,” he said, pointing to the prison transport craft. “And anything else useful this facility has to offer. Make sure it’s all swept for bugs.”

“Yes, sire,” one of the soldiers said with a salute.

“Search everything,” Lotor said. “Commander Sendak, with me.”

Sendak followed silently as Lotor made his way through the halls towards the prison’s control center. He downloaded the prison’s database, his mind swirling with the possibilities opened up before him. There was classified Coalition data- flight plans and updated star charts, even correspondence between members of Central Command and prison officials. There were access codes, coordinates for other facilities. And now it all belonged to him.

“The prisoners are ready for you,” Sendak said and Lotor jerked up, startled. He’d been so lost in his victory that he’d forgotten he wasn’t alone. “Are you finished here?”

“Yes,” Lotor said. “Let’s go.”

They went down into the main cell block where the prisoners were assembled haphazardly, surrounded by Lotor’s men.

“I’m sure you’re wondering what’s happening,” Lotor started cooly. Over half the prisoners were Galra and they stared at him with expressions swirling with confusion and fear and hatred. And hope.

“I’m sure most of you know who I am.”

He paused as he recognized one of the prisoners, staring back at him wide eyed. Dayak. It was strange to see her without her cowl. She looked oddly exposed with her ears twitching slightly in the cool air, her body encased in a simple prison jump suit. There was no confusion in her eyes, only loyalty and pride.

Lotor forced himself to look away with a grin, his heart pounding in his chest. “I am the Emperor of the New Galra Empire, here to offer you a fresh start. I don’t care about your crimes. Consider the slate wiped clean. All who bend the knee will be welcome in our ranks. Those who choose not to join us-”

Lotor paused while he let them think the worst.

“-will be free to go.”

There were a few gasps and muttered suspicious whispers.

“You heard me,” Lotor said, louder. “I want nothing less than absolute loyalty, and loyalty can’t be forced. There are ships in the hangar. Those who don’t wish to join my forces will be free to make their own way.”

“I want to leave,” a young Unilu woman called out, stepping forward bravely. “I don’t want to join you. I want to leave.”

Lotor stared at her for a long moment, then motioned towards the door, inclining his head gracefully. “The hangar is that way,” he said with a smile.

The girl took another step forward, looking nervously at Lotor’s soldiers. They didn’t make any move to stop her. She took another step, and then broke into a run. Lotor watched her go without comment.

“Anyone else care to leave?”

Another Unilu left, a few Olkari. The remaining forty or so prisoners shifted nervously from foot to foot.

“I wish to pledge my loyalty to blood Emperor Lotor,” Dayak announced, stepping forward to fall to her knees before him.

Lotor smiled. “I’m honored to accept your pledge, Dayak,” he said, stepping closer so he could bend down and take her hands. “Rise.”

_ “We rise!” _Lotor’s soldiers shouted in unison, hitting their chests. The shout echoed eerily through the cavernous hall.

Dayak rose and threw Sendak a suspicious look before moving to stand behind Lotor.

“Anyone else?” Lotor asked, staring at the prisoners before him.

Slowly they sank to their knees, bowing their heads. There was a shivering chorus of pledges of loyalty.

“Rise,” he ordered.

_ “We rise!” _his soldiers chanted.

* * *

“We should send scouts to take out the ones that got away,” Sendak said gruffly once they were back on their ship.

“They didn’t get away,” Lotor said. “I let them go. Are there news from the other Commanders?”

Sendak checked something on his gauntlet before nodding. “Yes. Their missions were successful too. Between the three of them they’ve taken fifty-two purebred Galra, twenty-seven Galra halfbreeds, and eleven individuals from other races. They’ve also taken nearly two hundred Sentries and a few dozen ships. Gnov looted half a dozen healing pods and Bogh found a cache of Xanthorium. Lahn’s target had a particularly well-stocked armory. He’s emptied it.”

“Good,” Lotor said. With this one mission their ranks had more than doubled, not to mention the equipment and supplies they’d taken, the ships. And, of course, the data. “Let’s make sure our new friends are settled and get out of here.”

“I’ll send the order.”

Lotor made himself comfortable in the captain’s chair as he waited for his people to finish loading loot and prisoners onto their ships and got ready to leave.

Once they took off Lotor looked back at the prison facility, just an empty husk of a building now.

“Commander,” he said idly.

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you curious to test out your new ion cannons?”

Sendak grinned.

Lotor spoke a quick warning into the comms, ordering everyone to fall back. “Fire at will,” he said, and Sendak started the activation sequence.

The blast, when it came, was glorious. The facility practically dissolved before their eyes, and once the halo of laser fire faded all that was left of the prison was a smoking crater. A cheer went up over the comms and Lotor recognized unfamiliar voices in the joyful chorus of it. They’d be familiar soon enough.

“Put in the rendezvous coordinates,” Lotor said, rising to his feet. “We meet with the rest of my fleet.”

“Yes, sire,” Sendak said, his hands flying over the controls.

Lotor trudged back to his tiny room. His plan had gone off without a hitch, so why did he feel so _ tired? _

He opened the door to his bunk and froze. It wasn’t empty- Dayak was standing in the center, holding herself stiffly like she was too good to touch anything in the dingy little room.

“Dayak,” he said quietly.

“Emperor Lotor.” She walked towards him and took his face in her hands, staring into his eyes like she might find the secrets of the universe there. “It’s about time you returned.”

Lotor laughed, sagging against her as she brought their foreheads together. Slowly he raised his hands and took her by the shoulders, breathing slow and deep to stay calm. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come for you sooner.”

“Better late than never,” Dayak said. Her voice was shaky, almost like a laugh. “What have you done to your beautiful hair?” she demanded sternly as she pulled away. She tilted his head to one side, then to the other. “It’s all ragged.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lotor said.

“It’s unbecoming of an Emperor. Let me trim it for you.”

Lotor let her lead him to the desk chair, sitting down at her direction. It had been useless to argue with her when he was a boy and it would be useless to argue now. He pulled the dagger from his belt, the dagger Sendak had given him for his birthday, and passed it back to her.

For lack of a comb she pushed her fingers through his hair almost reverently, lingering when she didn’t need to. Lotor closed his eyes and let himself enjoy her touch. It was always like this between them, unspoken affection in quiet moments. She was the closest thing to a mother he’d ever had. And although there had been so many times when he’d hated her- when he’d cried himself to sleep, his body aching from the Palen Bol- he’d known that she was only doing her duty. She thought she was helping him.

In a lot of ways she _ had _helped him. She’d prepared him for the harsh realities of the world. For the ways that the people he loved would hurt him.

As she worked to slowly trim his hair, she told him what had happened in the three years he’d been gone. It was a more personal story than the reports Sendak had compiled, more real.

“Everything fell apart after you disappeared,” she said, carefully brushing the loose hairs off his shoulders. “But you’re back now. You’re back. You’ll fix it.”

Lotor sighed and stood, looking at the dagger in her hands. “Some things can’t be fixed,” he said, taking the dagger back and sheathing it at his belt once again.

* * *

A day before they were scheduled to rendevouz with the main part of the fleet, one of the scouts sent along strange readings they’d taken at the edge of a turbulent nebula.

“It’s ship signatures,” Lotor said, looking at the scans. “It’s- these are my ships.”

“What do you mean?” Sendak asked.

“They’re fighters of my design. Most were destroyed when my cruiser was, but I had more docked in a few hidden ship yards. This looks like- dozens at least.”

He narrowed the scan parameters. He was sure. Lightning sparked inside the nebula and for a moment he could see a dark distant shape silhouetted against the light. A Galra cruiser.

“They’re short range ships,” Lotor said, his heart quickening. He felt the slow bloom of rage in his gut. “They can’t travel for long without docking.”

“So?”

“So,” Lotor said, “They’re mine, and I want them back.”

His ears were ringing. There was no way he would let this pass. Faintly he heard Sendak speaking, infuriatingly steady like he didn’t understand what this meant.

“Easy,” Sendak said. “Don’t get greedy. We’re coming off a victory, it’s easy to let it go to your head-”

“I’m not leaving my ships in the hands of filthy raiders,” Lotor growled. “We can take them. I can take them. Ready my fighter.”

“Lotor-”

_ “No,” _ Lotor said, anger making his voice tremble. “You don’t tell me what to do.” He walked forward and drew Sendak’s sword from the sheath at his belt while Sendak stared at him in shock, doing nothing to stop him.

“Stay here,” Lotor said, turning away.

“Stay here to do _ what?” _Sendak growled, finally coming out of his stupor to stride forward and grab Lotor by the arm, yanking him back.

“You’re a Commander!” Lotor yelled, twisting out of his grip. “Command!”

He activated his comms as he walked to the hangar and gave instructions to his troops. He had two dozen fighters getting into formation as he powered up the fighter in the hangar, climbing into the cockpit. His hands were shaking as he pulled on a helmet and stowed Sendak’s sword beside his seat.

“Commander Sendak, keep the rest of the fleet back but be ready in case we need reinforcements.”

_ “Understood,” _Sendak said through the comms.

“Fighters- are you ready for launch?”

Lotor waited for affirmative responses before launching his ship. He ordered an arrowhead formation, speeding recklessly towards the nebula. They were still cloaked, but the thick swirling particles of the nebula sparked as they hit the shields, giving them away.

“Fall back,” Lotor ordered. “Wait for my mark.”

He continued alone, running scans and watching his stolen fighters on the sensors. He saw the exact moment they noticed him, over a dozen turning as one to come for him. They flew recklessly, not in formation. Lotor scoffed and evaded them easily. 

The design of the articulated thrusters meant the stolen ships were more maneuverable than his own. But he’d designed those fighters for himself, his own flying style. Even in arguably superior ships, the raiders had no chance against him. He played with them for a while, getting them to shoot at each other until they were good and riled up, and then he headed back to where his reinforcements were waiting.

“Coming out hot,” he called out into the comms. “Ready- mark!”

He blew out of the nebula trailing enemy ships and laughed as they tried to veer away from the trap he’d set for them. He didn’t stay to watch the battle, that wasn’t what this was about. He turned back into the nebula, chasing down the cruiser he’d caught a glimpse of earlier.

There was some chatter over the comms but he couldn’t make it out through the interference of the nebula and he didn’t care. He could see the cruiser in the distance, powering up its jump drive. They were going to try to run.

Lotor felt wild as he opened up the throttle, firing his full complement of missiles to take out the cruiser’s engines. The bottom of the ship was engulfed in fire, the particles making up the nebula catching too. The activation sequence was disrupted and Lotor hurtled towards the flames, aiming his ship unerringly towards the closed hangar door.

A few desperate moments before impact he grabbed Sendak’s sword and ejected himself from the pilot’s seat, stabilizing himself with his thrusters just in time to see the ship crash into the hangar, blowing it wide open. The explosive depressurization sucked everything inside the hangar out.

He floated, waiting as he watched ships and raiders alike being blown out into space. He didn’t linger, activating his thrusters to head into the rip in the belly of the cruiser.

It was lit only by emergency lights, flashing red and frantic. He activated the manual override on the main door and stepped into the airlock, feet touching down on the ground as the artificial gravity engaged. The door slammed shut behind him, and then he was through the next and in a corridor.

This was a Galra cruiser. All Galra cruisers had the same layout and Lotor made his way unerringly towards the bridge. His comms were buzzing distantly and he shut them down in annoyance. As he stalked through the halls all he could hear was the rushing of his own blood in his ears, his heart pounding like a war drum.

Somewhere there was screaming and he raised his sword as three raiders turned the corner. One raised a blaster and Lotor used the sword to deflect the shot, sending it back into the raider’s chest. And then Lotor was coming for the other two at a dead sprint.

They tried to shoot him so he ducked, then took a knee and slid the rest of the way, grabbing a raider’s ankle and yanking to send him tumbling into his companion. Lotor rolled to his feet and slammed his heel into the second raider’s face with a satisfying crunch before beheading the third.

He paused just long enough to flick the blood off his blade and take a blaster out of one of the dead men’s hands before looking up and catching sight of a security camera mounted in the ceiling above him. He shot it out and kept going.

There were more raiders, more killing. He didn’t let it slow him down, ripping through enemies like tissue paper until he was soaked in their blood. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the bridge.

The world blurred around him in the haze of bloodlust. He felt untouchable. He felt like a god.

And then he was forcing the doors open to the bridge and striding inside.

Two figures turned to face him, one tall and slender and the other huge and muscular. Lotor grinned viciously. It was just as he’d thought.

This was Zethrid and Ezor’s ship.

They spread out, moving to flank him. Ezor’s skin rippled like she was about to turn invisible so he threw his sword. She screamed in pain and shock as it hit her in the shoulder, driving her back and pinning her to the wall like a bug.

Zethrid moved to go to her but Lotor trained his stolen blaster on her and she froze, raising her hands.

He paused, breathing hard. There was screaming in the distance, but it sounded like it was coming from inside his own mind.

“What do you want?” Zethrid hissed. “You can have anything. Just- don’t hurt her. Let her go.”

Lotor laughed and they both flinched.

He pulled off his helmet and let it drop to the ground. 

“I wanted to catch up,” he said, and didn’t recognize the sound of his own voice. “It’s been so long.”

“Lotor,” Zethrid whispered. Ezor’s eyes widened but she stayed silent.

“So you remember who I am,” Lotor said. “I was worried you’d forgotten. I owe you a debt.”

“Lotor, please-” Zethrid said.

“Shut up!” Lotor yelled and she flinched. “Shut the fuck up! You think I care about anything you have to say? You betrayed me!”

“It was- it was Acxa-” Ezor said, practically sobbing.

“Was it?” Lotor asked sweetly. “Of course. You had nothing to do with it. And where is dear Acxa?”

“We don’t know,” Zethrid said, sinking to her knees. “She- she joined the Paladins. She- we can find her for you-”

“How kind of you to offer, but I think I’ll find her just fine by myself. Is there anything else you’d care to offer me? I’m listening.”

“Lotor,” Ezor said, sobbing for real now.

Lotor frowned as he glanced over at her, at the fat tears slipping down her cheeks. Zethrid was breathing hard, terrified as she watched Lotor expectantly, waiting for him to pass down his judgement. Both of them looked so ragged, so pitiful. Ezor was missing a leg, her prosthetic ugly and old fashioned. Half of Zethrid’s face was covered in scar tissue as if from a burn.

They’d been proud warriors, once. Generals, once. Now they were nothing, thieves and pirates, alone in the universe. They would have been begging for their lives if they didn’t know him well enough to know that it would do them no good.

He’d expected this moment to feel sweet but instead he just felt disgusted and raw, tingling all over like his skin was too tight. His ears were ringing louder now, and past it all there was the sound of approaching boot steps.

“Lotor.”

He startled at the steady voice. Sendak’s voice.

“I told you to stay with the ship,” Lotor said in annoyance. He couldn’t take his eyes off Ezor and Zethrid before him.

“You did. And then you dropped off the comms.”

Zethrid and Ezor looked shocked to see Sendak beside him.

“Stop toying with them and finish it,” Sendak growled.

Lotor tightened his lips into a thin line.

“No,” he said at last. “Not yet. Take them to the brig. Have someone patch Ezor up and put them in the same cell.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“We’ll separate them if they make trouble. Do you understand?” Lotor asked, glaring at Zethrid and Ezor. “It can still get worse for you. Significantly worse. Don’t try me. Not again.”

“I understand,” Zethrid whispered while Ezor only whimpered.

“Get them out of my sight,” Lotor muttered, walking past them to look out the main viewscreen, listening to the flurry of activity behind him. By the time he stopped shaking and turned around, he was on the bridge alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reblog, don't repost!
> 
> The AMAZING drawing is by [feathers-of-ravens](https://feathers-of-ravens.tumblr.com/), and can be found [here](https://feathers-of-ravens.tumblr.com/post/189177898555/some-snarling-lotor-cause-im-practicing-a-new)


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

Lotor found himself in the captain’s quarters, standing in the middle of the room in a stupor. This had been Zethrid and Ezor’s room. It was full of signs of them- three years worth of clothing and trinkets, half-drunk bottles of wine and half-read books.

They’d been together here, queens of their little corner of the universe. He wondered if they’d been happy. If they’d ever given him a second thought. If they’d imagined they were safe from him, from everyone.

He was exhausted. He felt-

He wasn’t sure how he felt. Like his skin was too small for his body, too tight. Like if he took one wrong move he would shatter into a million pieces.

He stared at the bed, big enough for two and then some. The bedsheets were satin, and mussed. Ezor and Zethrid had probably fucked here. They’d probably whispered sweet nothings to each other while he’d been suspended in a cryopod on one of the Lions, or wasting away in a jail cell. While he’d been floating in a pool in the dark and pretending to be dead.

He couldn’t sleep in their bed. He couldn’t go anywhere else. He couldn’t anything, he was frozen.

“Lotor.”

Sendak, again. Of course. Always Sendak.

“I didn’t send for you,” Lotor said without turning. He couldn’t look away from the bed.

“You never send for me,” Sendak said gruffly. “And yet here I am.”

“Here you are,” Lotor said, his voice dropping nastily as he finally turned. “Why exactly _ are _ you here? Don’t you realize I have no need for you anymore? I could get rid of you and finish this on my own.”

“I suppose you could,” Sendak said, completely unconcerned.

“You’re not even going to try to argue?” Lotor demanded. “Can’t come up with a single reason I should keep you around?”

Sendak stayed impassive and it only made Lotor angrier. How dare he be calm while Lotor was burning up from the inside out?

“I can think of one reason,” Lotor said, walking closer. “One thing you’re good for.”

Zethrid and Ezor had fucked in that bed, happily and without concern about how their actions had affected him. The hell he’d been through. It would serve them right if he did the same.

“Fuck me,” Lotor said, raising his chin.

At least Sendak seemed a little surprised at that.

“You must have thought about it,” Lotor said with an ugly smirk. “Wanted it. Or did you imagine a different kind of service for me, once you took me as your slave?”

“No,” Sendak said, and Lotor wasn’t sure what exactly he was saying no to.

“How did you plan for it to go?” Lotor pushed, taking another step until he was standing within arm’s reach, looking up into Sendak’s face. “Would you have stripped me naked and put me in a collar and cuffs? Would you have dumped me in the brig, or maybe left me chained up in your chambers for convenience? Maybe you thought to have me kneeling by the throne while you conducted the business of the Empire. Did it make you hot to think of the traitorous halfbreed prince brought low?”

Sendak’s jaw tightened as he ran his gaze down Lotor’s body, but still he didn’t move.

“I know you want me,” Lotor said, his voice rising despite himself. “Maybe you only want me while I’m weak. Or maybe you don’t want it unless it’s by force. I can pretend to struggle, if that’s what it takes to get you hard.”

“It’s been a long day,” Sendak said, still perfectly steady and calm. “You should get some rest.”

“Don’t tell me what I should do,” Lotor snarled, shoving him in the chest hard enough that he fell back a step. “I told you what I wanted. If you’re not going to give it to me- get the fuck out.”

Sendak just _ watched _him in that infuriating way he had. Assessing, dissecting. Lotor felt too raw with everything that had happened to bear it. He grimaced and lashed out with his claws. Sendak grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him closer, wrapping his arms around him to keep Lotor pinned to his chest.

“Let go of me,” Lotor hissed as he struggled, but it was no use.

“Hush,” Sendak said quietly. “Settle.”

“Stop it,” Lotor managed, the words coming out muffled. There was no point in fighting but still he tried for a while longer before giving up and slumping against the immovable bulk of Sendak before him. Lotor was trembling, his eyes stinging. He couldn’t quite seem to catch his breath.

Sendak moved, slightly, so he could run his fingers through Lotor’s hair. “Easy, everything’s alright now,” he muttered nonsensically. “You need to calm down before I can take you back to the ship to get some rest. The soldiers can’t see you like this.”

Lotor hid his face against Sendak’s chest and thought about Ezor and Zethrid, how afraid they’d been. They deserved it. Didn’t they? 

Who was he to decide what anyone deserved? What he deserved?

“Steady,” Sendak said. “I just need you to get it together for a few minutes. Are you with me?”

“Yes,” Lotor managed shakily.

“Let’s go then,” Sendak said, pulling away and setting a hand on Lotor’s lower back to lead him out of the captain’s quarters.

As they walked through the halls the soldiers stared at Lotor with wide-eyed admiration, falling to their knees and bowing their heads. “Emperor Lotor,” they greeted him in hushed tones.

“Why are they looking at me like that?” Lotor managed after the fifth time it happened.

“Maybe it’s your fetching new haircut,” Sendak said. “Or maybe it’s the way you single-handedly took a cruiser.”

“That’s insane,” Lotor said. “I had reinforcements.”

“You left your reinforcements behind to take out the raider’s fighter ships. By the time we reached the cruiser you were already on the bridge.”

“Oh,” Lotor said. It was all such a blur now. He felt sick.

The main hangar was blown out from Lotor’s earlier stunt but Sendak took him to the secondary hangar, where his modified transport ship was docked. The dark hallways of the transport ship were familiar, strangely comforting. Sendak took him back to the dingy bedroom and Lotor pushed his way into the bathroom, dropping to his knees to vomit into the toilet.

Sendak held his hair back and rubbed soothing circles over his back.

“That would have been so sexy while I was fucking you,” Sendak said.

Lotor laughed weakly, closing his eyes. “Don’t you ever shut _ up?” _

“Sometimes. Are you finished?”

Lotor nodded and Sendak reached past him to flush the toilet, then handed him a glass of water. Lotor rinsed his mouth, rinsed it again.

“Get cleaned up,” Sendak said. “I’ll bring you a change of clothes.”

When he left to go back into Lotor’s room, Lotor managed to force himself up to stand at the sink. He recoiled at the first glimpse of himself in the mirror. He was covered in blood. His eyes were glowing faintly.

He screwed his eyes shut and leaned heavily on the sink as he forced himself to breathe so he wouldn’t retch.

Sendak brought in a change of clothing and set the soft bundle on the closed toilet lid before taking Lotor by the shoulders and turning him around, away from the mirror. He moved to peel one of Lotor’s gloves off but Lotor yanked his hand back with a scowl.

“I can do it. Get out.”

“Sire,” Sendak said with a small nod before finally doing what he was told and leaving Lotor alone in the tiny bathroom. It was as much lonesome as it was a relief. Lotor kept his mind carefully blank as he undressed and washed, dried himself off and slipped on a worn tunic and soft pair of pants.

He felt better after, lighter. Still, there was a buzzing tension under his skin and the thought of being alone just now was terrifying.

Taking a deep breath, he carefully opened the door to Sendak’s bedroom.

It was nicer than his own, the bed bigger. Sendak was sitting on it shirtless with one knee drawn up. He was holding a datapad in one hand and looked up from it quizzically. The only light in the room came from a softly glowing purple globe on the nightstand.

Sendak stared and Lotor awkwardly licked his lips. This was stupid. He shouldn’t have come. It was too late to take it back. Except Sendak pulled the covers back in invitation and Lotor exhaled sharply before walking forward and climbing into his bed.

“Would you like to talk?” Sendak asked, looking back down at his datapad. “Or would you prefer to sling more insults at me?”

“Do you expect me to apologize?”

“No,” Sendak said with a small smile. “It would be unbecoming of an Emperor.”

“I’m not sure that’s true,” Lotor said, turning to lie on his side with his back to Sendak. He wrapped his arms around a pillow and pressed his face into it, breathing slowly. Sendak stayed quiet except for the occasional sound of his fingers tapping the screen of his datapad, or the rustling of sheets as he shifted minutely.

“I thought I was doing this for revenge,” Lotor said, quieter. “I thought- I thought it would feel sweet to look at their faces and see fear there. But it was just- it was-”

He shivered as he felt Sendak’s hand on the back of his head, Sendak’s fingers stroking his hair.

“It’s not what I wanted,” Lotor managed to finish.

“What did you want?”

“To take it all back,” Lotor whispered. “To go back, and- and have them not betray me. To have it be like it used to be. But it’s too late now. That’s never going to happen. So what’s the point of all this? What is it for?”

The last time he’d asked that, Sendak had nearly drowned him. Now he just hummed thoughtfully.

“Why are you doing it?” Lotor asked, turning so he was on his back, looking up at Sendak beside him.

“Because I want revenge for what they did to me,” Sendak said. “And because I’m afraid.”

“You? Afraid?” Lotor scoffed.

“I’m terrified,” Sendak said, looking at him evenly. “Children are running roughshod through the Universe, wielding a weapon of mass destruction. They’ve caused enough collateral damage with their actions to rival Zarkon, and yet those self-righteous brats think they can do no wrong. There are already planets where people worship Voltron as a god, and that terrifies me even more. What will they do with their power once no one is left to stand against them?”

“So you’ve decided to stand against them,” Lotor said.

“Yes.”

“And then what?”

“And then…” Sendak looked off into the distance. “And then- anything. I’ve never gotten to choose for myself how my life would go. I’m looking forward to it, as much as it frightens me. Maybe I’ll retire somewhere beautiful. Maybe I’ll sleep late into the mornings and spend my evenings hunting. Maybe I’ll find a hobby, carve figurines out of stone. Maybe I’ll just go out drinking every night and live a life of leisure.”

Lotor snorted out a surprised laugh. “I’m having a difficult time imagining that.”

Sendak opened a drawer in his nightstand and pulled out a small object, tossing it lightly into Lotor’s hands. It was a creature like a cat, carved painstakingly out of a piece of obsidian.

Lotor turned it over and over in his hands, staring in wonder.

“It’s late,” Sendak said. “Go to sleep.”

“I don’t think I can,” Lotor whispered.

“I’ll help you,” Sendak said. He turned back to the datapad and started to read-

“Beta team seven has recovered one hundred and thirty two kilograms of ration packs, three dozen automatic blasters, five daggers, one kilogram of Xanthorium refined into battle crystals, three Balmera crystals, one cryopod- malfunctioning, three cryopods- in good repair. In addition there were…”

Lotor closed his eyes and turned on his side again, clutching the stone figurine to his chest. As Sendak droned on, reading the inventories of every ship under their control. Once that was finished he went on to the prisoner manifest, reading out the information of every prisoner that had pledged their loyalty.

It was mind-numbing. It was peaceful. Sendak’s voice was steady and reassuring, a soothing rumble. Soon- sooner than he thought possible- Lotor drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The stolen cruiser hadn’t exactly been in the best shape before Lotor had taken it, but afterwards it was nearly non-operational.

Sendak sent out a message and the rest of the fleet joined them in the nebula while the cruiser was being repaired. The prisoners they’d taken were permitted to send messages too- summoning their crews, their friends, their former brothers-in-arms. A slow trickle of Galra soldiers turned raiders joined Lotor’s forces and bent the knee in small ceremonies they held daily, just after dinner.

Lotor felt steady, or steady enough- so long as he didn’t think of Ezor and Zethrid in a cell somewhere close by.

He met with his war council in the Captain’s ready-room off the bridge, pulling up star charts and the data he’d taken from the prison.

They were in decent shape now, over three hundred strong not counting Sentries, and fielding a small force of fighters and support craft.

“Here,” Lotor said, pulling up Coalition trade routes on the map. “We’ll raid them for supplies, targeting weapons and ships first and foremost. Leave medical shipments alone, as well as refugees. The point is to take what we can use and leave them with no safe quarter. We want them to be on edge, terrified. Never knowing where we’ll strike next.”

“Do we have a list of shipments?” Bogh asked.

“Yes,” Sendak said, pulling up the manifests. “For the next two weeks, assuming they didn’t change their routes after they learned of the prison raids.”

“We can strike here, here, and here,” Gnov said, pointing to the map. “I’ll send out two of the teams. Lahn-”

“I have enough manpower for the third,” Lahn said with a steady nod. Bogh clapped him firmly on the shoulder with pride in his eyes as Lotor watched, remembering vaguely that Lahn had been Bogh’s Lieutenant. Lahn hadn’t wanted to follow Lotor’s rule at first, but now here he was- part of his war council.

“Strike hard and fast,” Lotor said. “Put the fear of the Empire in them.”

“Yes, sire,” they said in unison, grinning. Lotor grinned back. 

Clearly the Paladins had forgotten who they were trifling with. They’d forgotten the way Lotor had harried them in the early days, always five steps ahead while they floundered. He intended to remind them.

* * *

The first raids went off without a hitch. And then the Coalition wised up enough to change their trade routes.

“They’ve made their backwards little home planet the unofficial hub of their operations,” Sendak said, pulling up the data for a planet called Earth. “We can station spies there to monitor their movements.”

“Good, do it,” Lotor said.

The raids continued after that, unpredictable and unstoppable. Based on the radio chatter they intercepted, the Coalition was getting worried. They were stretched painfully thin. It was no wonder, with the mess they’d gotten themselves into.

The Paladins had thought of the Galra simply as vicious brutes, conquerors and murderers. But the Empire had been a far-reaching and delicate web, connecting disparate planets and colonies through supply routes that made previously uninhabitable planets habitable. While the Galra army seemed vast and fearsome, most of the warships were nothing more than glorified freighters, never once seeing true battle.

Most Galra mines, territories, and production facilities were uninhabited, run by Sentries. They had empty planets simply for grain production, moons and asteroids they’d terraformed to produce certain crops and other foodstuffs. 

There was one planet Lotor knew of that was entirely covered in water. Orbiting satellites monitored the nutrient content so it was at optimal levels for farming Croki- small fish that the Galra considered a delicacy. There was another planet they’d used as hunting grounds, harvesting a particular beast that had hides optimal for constructing battle armor, and an entire planet just for the berries they processed into a type of sacred wine.

For the most part Quartermaster Janka had managed this delicate supply chain. Much of the farming and resource extraction was automated, but Janka scheduled pick-ups and deliveries to ensure colonies and Galra fleets alike had regular shipments of food and water, fuel and any other supplies they needed. 

With Janka disappearing after the Kral Zera Lotor had taken control of the supply chain, making sure the shipments continued to run smoothly. But after he was gone, there was no one left to take over. No one even knew they’d need to.

The supply chain fell apart, dissolving into nothing over the course of weeks while the Empire descended into chaos. Commanders left with their fleets, looting what they could. Production facilities ran out of fuel and stalled. Grain rotted in the fields with no one around to start the harvesting procedures. Colonies starved.

Lotor tried not to think about how many millions- _ billions- _of people died as a result of the power vacuum left by the Paladins’ negligence.

Now, three years later- the Coalition was facing a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions as they tried to help whoever was left. They were stretched thin and run ragged, weak but not powerless. And of course- there was the issue of Voltron.

Lotor could harry the Coalition to the ends of the universe, but he knew the full might of Alfor’s monstrosity, and knew he had nothing that could stand against it. He ordered raids and sent out scouts. He drew schematics and threw them away. He couldn’t build a ship to rival Voltron, not without transdimensional ore. Even if he could- he had little desire to face them head-on. Not again.

Perhaps he could find a way to trick the Paladins and steal Voltron out from under their noses. It would be risky, but all of this was risky.

Lotor sighed, pushing his hands through his hair.

“Lotor,” Sendak said, walking into the Captain’s ready-room on the cruiser. “We’re getting a strange reading. Some sort of energy surge. No one’s seen anything like it.”

“Show me,” Lotor said, standing from his desk and following Sendak out onto the bridge.

“There,” Hepta said, pulling up a dot on a map. It was glowing bright blue, letting off unusual radiation.

“Oh,” Lotor breathed out as he recognized the coordinates.

“You know what it is?” Sendak asked.

“Yes.”

It was Oriande.

“It’s the witch,” Lotor said, his hands shaking with excitement and fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reblog, don't repost!!
> 
> The lovely art is by [feathers-of-ravens](https://feathers-of-ravens.tumblr.com/) and can be found [HERE](https://feathers-of-ravens.tumblr.com/post/189179955910/okay-one-more-im-sorry-ill-stop-for-the-night-c)


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

“We should send a scout,” Sendak said.

“No, I’ll go myself,” Lotor said, raising his hand to preemptively cut off Sendak’s objections. “I know what I’m doing.”

Sendak raised a skeptical eyebrow but stayed silent in the presence of the lower-ranked officers, the Lieutenants and technicians operating the bridge consoles.

“Ready my fighter,” Lotor said and Hepta nodded. “Commander Sendak, you’re with me.”

Sendak stayed silent until they reached the hangar, crossing his arms as he looked at the single fighter being refueled by Sentries.

“I don’t get my own ship?”

“As the better pilot,” Lotor said with a smirk, “and as your Emperor- I’m going to say no. You’re in charge of sensors and weapon controls.” He climbed up into the fighter while Sendak followed.

“Try not to crash into anything this time,” Sendak grumbled as he buckled himself into the co-pilot’s seat.

“No promises,” Lotor said, flexing his hands over the flight controls before opening up the throttle.

His heart was pounding as they approached the ship graveyard. The last time he’d been here hadn’t exactly gone well.

Everything looked different now, even more ominous. The place where the white hole had been was wreathed in a thick particulate fog, swirling sickeningly. He could see needle-thin streaks of lightning flashing inside and approached carefully, still cloaked. He saw a vague shadow through the fog, glowing as it powered up its weapons. They’d been detected.

It wasn’t too late to run, not yet. But he’d come here for answers, so he hailed the unknown ship.

The tension stretched seconds into ages. When the hail was answered he saw an Altean woman’s face across the viewscreen. She frowned, confused, and then her eyes widened and she smiled even as she ducked her head- the furthest level of deference available to her in her tight pilot’s seat harness.

“Prince Lotor!” she breathed out. “I- we’ve been- it’s an honor to-”

The woman looked vaguely familiar and Lotor let a smile spread over his face in response.

“Merla,” he said, bringing the woman’s stuttering to a stop.

“Sire,” she breathed out reverently. So the Alteans still cared for him. That was good.

“Merla- what’s happening here?”

She explained, still overcome by the honor of his presence, his attention. The story she told him was troubling, though not entirely unexpected. She told him of the witch coming to the colony and taking them all away, of the way they’d come to Oriande and the plans to build mecha suits in order to avenge him. In order to conquer the universe in his name.

“I’d like to come see for myself,” Lotor said once her story was done. “Are we clear to approach?”

“Yes,” she said brightly. “Yes, of course. My prince-”

“Emperor,” Sendak growled from behind Lotor’s shoulder.

Merla shot Sendak a nervous look but Lotor nodded, so she relaxed.

“Of course, my Emperor,” she said with a smile. “This is all for you.”

“I’ll tell the fleet to follow,” Sendak said once the viewscreen grew dark.

“No,” Lotor said. “Tell them to stay back. We go alone.”

“Lotor,” Sendak said with a by-now familiar exasperated sigh.

“Listen to me,” Lotor said. He felt a cold tingle of fear run up his spine as he considered what they were about to do. “If Merla was telling the truth about what she’s built here… our fleet doesn’t stand a chance. If anything goes wrong, we’ll die in there. But at least the others will have a chance to get away.”

“Fine,” Sendak said gruffly.

“Maybe I should go alone,” Lotor said, even as the thought of facing the witch on his own made his gut sink with dread and fear.

“Out of the question.”

“Fine,” Lotor said, turning away to hide his relieved smile.

Merla escorted them through the ship graveyard towards the place where the white hole had been, where the witch had destroyed the white lion and dragged the sacred temple of the Altean ancients to float incongruously amongst the rest of the debris.

Lotor’s heart was pounding loudly in his chest as he brought the ship in for a landing and stepped foot on holy land. Desecrated now, by the witch. By his own presence, by Sendak beside him.

He’d been rejected here before for refusing to lay down and die. As if a sacrifice such as that could be worth anything. The greater sacrifice was living, moving forward, _ fighting. _

That moment had left a bad taste in his mouth so long ago, but he’d pushed it aside in favor of throwing himself into his work on Sincline.

His mouth was full of bitterness once more as he ascended the steps. He’d idolized Alteans, their culture. He’d thought them _ evolved, _unlike the vicious bloodthirsty Galra he’d grown up among. He’d thought he could burn the Galra out of himself and emerge purely Altean- cleansed and pure.

But he saw the truth of it now, saw it as yet another futile quest he’d wasted himself on. Galra were not singularly evil. Alteans were not singularly good. And he was both at once, with one foot in each world.

He’d felt torn between the two worlds, before. Now he intended to bring them together.

The witch stood waiting for him at the top of the steps. The giant temple doors were open behind her, and through them Lotor could see a great hall filled with hundreds of Alteans. They watched him approach with silent awe.

“My son,” the witch said.

He didn’t flinch, but only because he’d heard her say those words before.

She held her arms open wide as if she expected them to embrace.

“How dare you call me that, when you’ve never been a mother to me?” Lotor asked coldly.

The witch seemed taken aback.

“For my entire life, you’ve never been more than the monster in the shadows.”

“My son-” she tried again.

“You and your druids experimented on me for _ years _to try and wash away the taint of my Altean blood,” Lotor hissed. “And then you spied on me, attacked me-”

The watching Alteans started whispering nervously amongst one another, confused about what was happening. The witch had told them she was his loving mother. They’d been expecting a happy reunion, a joyous alliance. Instead they got this.

“Lotor,” she said, sternly as though she was trying to silence him. He wouldn’t be silenced, not by her or anyone.

“You stood against me at the Kral Zera,” Lotor continued harshly. “You made sure to remind everyone I was unworthy. That I was a halfbreed. You turned my allies against me and kidnapped me. You took the fruits of my life’s work- preserving the Altean race, their culture- and twisted it into a war machine.”

“Stop it,” she said. “Listen to me-”

“No!” Lotor cried out, his voice ringing loud and clear through the hall. “I am _ not _ your son, and you are _ not _ my mother! I reject you, entirely and completely-”

Even through his rage Lotor spoke with calculated precision, hurting her in the only way he knew how. Her composure shattered into a vicious grimace, just like he knew it would.

“Insolent boy,” she hissed. “Ungrateful wretch. How dare you speak to me that way? I did all this for you- raised an army- for _ you!” _

She stepped forward, dark lightning crackling over her hands. It was a scene straight from his boyhood nightmares and Lotor froze as a wave of instinctual terror swelled within him.

But he wasn’t a boy anymore. He wasn’t alone anymore.

Lotor caught a flash of motion in his peripheral vision as Sendak lunged forward and grabbed the witch by the throat with his left hand, lifting her easily off the ground. His hand burst into life- glowing bright purple and crackling with a sharp pulse of electricity.

The witch screamed, her magic dissipating. She struggled, choking as she fought uselessly against Sendak’s iron grip.

“What shall I do with her, sire?” Sendak asked, ignoring her in favor of looking at him.

“End her,” Lotor said coldly, staring into Sendak’s eyes. Neither of them spared the witch another glance as Sendak tightened his grip, crushing her windpipe before letting her corpse drop to the ground.

Lotor stepped over it and looked at the shocked Alteans standing before him.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said, his voice ringing through the hall. “I’m sorry I left you vulnerable to the lies of someone like… that witch. I’m afraid it’s all my fault.”

The hall was dead silent. Somewhere behind him, Sendak was waiting patiently to see how this would play out. Most of all Lotor wanted to feel Sendak’s steadying touch. But he couldn’t have that just now, not until this was over.

“I don’t know how much the witch has told you,” he said. “So I will confess my truth to you now, as well as my lies.

“Three years ago I was crowned Emperor of the Galra Empire. It was the pinnacle of what I’d been working for. I was on the verge of achieving my greatest dreams, of creating a world were I could finally bring you out of seclusion and back into the light of the greater universe.

“And that was when my greatest mistake and regret surfaced, and ruined me.”

He paused as he tried to gauge the mood in the room. The Alteans were still listening to him in rapt attention, still had admiration in their eyes. They were confused, but they still saw him as their savior.

“I think you all remember the Second Colony,” Lotor said, his voice dropping a little. “I’m sure you’ve wondered why the process of selection stopped. Why no one was chosen to go to the Sister Colony for centuries, in your time. Outside the Quantum Abyss, it’s been longer.”

There were some murmurs in the hall and Lotor closed his eyes with a pained wince. “The truth that I was too much of a coward to tell you is this-

“The Second Colony was discovered. The people there- everyone- were taken by my father’s men and executed.”

Someone whimpered. Someone else sobbed. The devastating knowledge spread through the hall like blood through water.

“I should have told you sooner,” Lotor said. “As soon as it happened. But I was a coward, and I wanted to spare you that pain. It wasn’t my place to keep that from you but I was selfish, and a fool.

“One of the colonists, Bandor, managed to escape. He returned to the Colony and spoke with his sister, Romelle. I don’t know what he told her, but he was- confused, on the verge of death. She assumed the worst, horrible untrue things.

“And to make matters worse- Bandor’s ship left a trail right back to the Colony.” That part was pure conjecture, but it was one possible explanation for how the little Blade and his mother had found Lotor’s compound in the first place. “An outsider came to the Colony, a Paladin of Voltron. He made contact with Romelle.

“They had been my allies, but after hearing Romelle’s story they turned against me. They defeated me in battle, put me through a sham trial and imprisoned me. It is only now, with the help of my loyal High Commander Sendak, the Galra you see before you, that I’ve been able to gather the strength to fight back against the tyrannical regime they’ve built.

“I’m afraid it is not in my power to do much for you. I cannot protect you. I cannot even bear to ask your forgiveness. I can only surrender myself to your judgement.”

Lotor sank slowly to his knees and bowed his head in contrition. He knew enough of Altean ways by now to know when to bow for the headman’s axe.

He could practically feel Sendak’s scowl behind him as he waited. The hall was dead silent, uncertain. They didn’t know what to make of his story. They didn’t know what to make of his surrender either. Whispers rippled through the crowd, and then a young voice rang out through the silence.

“Savior!”

Lotor looked up to try and find who had spoken.

Someone else repeated it, and then there were more and more shouts until the hall was ringing with it- _ savior _over and over again.

Lotor felt a hand on his arm, Sendak pulling him up to his feet.

An Altean woman stepped forward and reached out to touch his hand reverently. “Savior,” she whispered and dropped to her knees.

They were all saying it. They were all kneeling.

“Will you join me?” Lotor asked.

The response was enthusiastic and unequivocal.

“We rise!” Lotor called out, raising his fist, and a victorious chorus rose in answer.

* * *

Sendak signaled the rest of the fleet to come in for a landing while the Alteans sent out a few mechas to act as guides.

It was with some trepidation that Lotor waited for the first of the Galra troops to disembark, but Sendak’s solid presence eased his worry somewhat. Sendak commanded his troops with an iron fist and a strict code of conduct. The first infraction warranted a public whipping- no less than ten lashes and no more than thirty-five, depending on the offense. The second breach was punished with execution.

The Galra wouldn’t be making any trouble or disobeying orders.

Lotor wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the Alteans. The colonists had been diplomats and merchants, scholars. And yet they’d followed the witch into war without a second thought. They’d done it for him.

Maybe Alteans and Galra weren’t so different after all. Both could thirst for blood if they felt it was for a worthy cause.

The initial meeting between Galra and Alteans was tense- surprisingly enough, more tense for the Galra. They were outnumbered now nearly three to one, and their fear of the Alteans was palpable. After all- they’d had a lifetime of indoctrination into seeing Alteans as murderers and liars, the destroyers of Daibazaal.

Lotor made a short speech to his fledgling nation. Zarkon’s violent regime was over. Alfor’s rule was over too, and those still living were not responsible for the crimes of their long-dead leaders.

Everyone seemed to accept that well enough that no fights burst out during the introductions.

Lotor brought his war council to meet the Altean elders and appointed Dayak to be in charge of the logistics of settling Lotor’s army in the temple. Gnov went off with an Altean named Tova to inspect their defenses while Bogh and Lahn examined the Temple’s inventory.

Lotor felt on the verge of vibrating out of his skin as he scanned the witch’s battle plans, the schematics for the mechas. Their capabilities were impressive. Even one might be a match for Voltron and he had half a dozen now. He could build more. He could build anything. A teleduv, a flagship greater than the one he’d built for his father, an entire fleet of fighters, anything at all.

“-sire?” someone said.

He looked up from the holotable, blinking rapidly, to see one of the Altean elders looking at him with gentle concern.

“Perhaps you should rest from your journey,” the elder said. “It’s been… trying, I’m sure. We’re preparing a feast for the evening in honor of your ascension, but in the meantime we can show you to your rooms?”

Lotor felt too keyed up to _ rest, _but a moment of solitude would be welcome so he nodded.

Merla was their guide through the temple. Walking through the sacred halls of Oriande felt particularly sweet after the way he’d been rejected before. He wondered what the Princess would think if she saw him now, standing at the head of hundreds of Alteans. They’d knelt for him in a way they’d never kneel for her. They loved him. To them- she was nothing.

She was quickly becoming nothing to him, too.

No one questioned the fact that Sendak walked at his right shoulder. No one questioned it when Sendak followed him into his quarters.

Lotor stopped, taking in the strangely appointed airy room. It was round, most of the walls made of purple-tinted glass that offered the strange surreal view of a temple floating in empty space surrounded by debris wreathed in fog. The room was dominated by a four-poster bed, each column a carving of an Altean Guardian holding a spear. Their spears were tipped together, meeting high above the bed. It was all surrounded by a canopy of diaphanous silks.

There were other decorative items strewn about the room, religious icons and gold chalices, the ceremonial tools of Alchemy. This was the bedroom of a High Priest, or a High Priestess. Lotor took it all in and turned, laughing in disbelief.

“How much of your story was true?” Sendak asked dryly.

Lotor let himself fall onto the bed, lying on his back and staring up at the statues of the Guardians looking down at him. “Enough,” he said easily. He felt giddy. “What do you care? Do you plan to tattle on me?”

“Just curious to know what fresh hell might rise to bite me in the ass because of it.”

“Nothing’s going to bite you in the ass,” Lotor laughed. He turned his head to rub his cheek against the bed. The sheets were very soft, smooth like silk.

“Pity,” Sendak said.

Lotor propped himself up on his elbows to look at him. He looked rather out of place in the elegant room in his mismatched armor and tattered cloak. He looked more like a fearsome pirate than the High Commander of a fledgling nation. 

Lotor entertained an idle fantasy of designing a new set of armor for him. Something black with gold accents would suit Sendak quite well. Form fitting and wicked. Maybe with a red half cape that would hang from one shoulder to mid-thigh. It would billow when Sendak walked, a touch of softness to accent the hardness of the rest of him.

He’d have to save that for later.

“Strip,” Lotor said.

“Are you going to demand I fuck you again?”

“Yes.”

This time there were no protests. Sendak pulled off his cloak. The fabric was heavy and it made a quiet thump as it hit the ground.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d think murder turned you on,” Sendak said, pulling off his gloves and gauntlets, unfastening his chest plate.

“I think we both know I wasn’t turned on last time,” Lotor said, watching Sendak get undressed.

“But you are now.”

Lotor spread his legs on the bed so Sendak could see for himself.

Sendak’s eyes darkened as he walked towards him, fully nude by then. Lotor didn’t bother moving to help as Sendak began to strip him too, starting with the latches on his boots.

“Do you have any idea what it was like,” Lotor said as he let Sendak undress him, not lingering but not rushing either, moving with pure efficiency. “Ten _ thousand _ years- always looking over my shoulder. Half the time it was to see _ her _staring back at me, always watching from the shadows. Now it’s over. I’m free.”

He laughed at the impossible joy of it.

“Do you understand what you did?” Lotor asked, raising his hips helpfully so Sendak could pull off his pants. “I’m _ free.” _

“You did it,” Sendak said, joining him on the bed at last. “My hands, your will. That’s what it meant when I knelt for you.”

“Oh,” Lotor said, his heart pounding. He’d only had service as a transaction, loyalty in return for personal gain. But of course Sendak saw it differently- as some sort of noble calling. Not a transaction, but complete surrender.

_ “Sendak,” _Lotor whispered, taking his face in his hands and kissing him desperately. Sendak’s arms wrapped around him, huge and warm. Sendak’s chest was firm beneath him, rippling with muscle and tightly controlled strength. Lotor moved so he was laying half on top of him, straddling one of his powerful thighs.

His blood was singing with victory and joy. He’d never felt this good before.

Sendak pulled away, panting, to stare up at the ceiling. He was frowning.

“What’s wrong?” Lotor asked.

“They’re staring at me,” Sendak grumbled.

Lotor looked up at the guardian statues and laughed. “If it bothers you, put your back to them.”

Sendak moved with a growl and Lotor suddenly found himself on his back with Sendak looming over him. He wrapped his legs around Sendak’s hips to drag him down until their cocks were pressed together, hotter than the rest of their bodies. Sendak’s cock was huge and ridged, leaking already. Lotor moaned as he arched up against him, taking his lips in a bruising kiss.

He was on fire with want, with need.

“I want you inside me,” he whispered. It came out more like a plea than the demand he’d been going for. “Do you have-”

Sendak pulled back with an incredulous look. “You’re asking if I keep oil in my armor? What sort of slut do you take me for?”

Lotor laughed- at the ridiculous situation, at Sendak’s offended expression. “You’re a Commander!” he gasped out. “I thought you might be- prepared!”

“If fucking tended to break out on the battlefield with more frequency, I would be.”

Sendak just kept _ looking _at him and Lotor only laughed harder.

“It’s really not that funny,” Sendak muttered. “Stop laughing.”

“Stop me, then,” Lotor gasped out.

Sendak smirked before pulling back enough so he could flip Lotor to his stomach and gathered his hair in one fist, pulling just hard enough that Lotor was forced to tilt his head to the side, exposing his neck. Sendak wasn’t particularly gentle as he pressed kisses to the delicate skin there, making Lotor shiver every time he felt the scrape of fangs.

He was completely at Sendak’s mercy and instead of feeling scared he felt cared for, cherished. He felt safe with Sendak at his back, holding him down. He wasn’t laughing anymore.

Sendak fit his cock between Lotor’s thighs, wet with his own slick but sadly not enough to fuck him outright. But this was good too- the thick slow drag between his thighs, against his entrance, the promise of it.

Lotor fisted the sheets as Sendak slipped his free hand under him, not stroking his cock so much as pressing his palm against it, giving Lotor something firm to rut against. Lotor groaned as Sendak set a steady rhythm, a sweet simulated fuck. He’d never done this before, never bothered. It had seemed pointless when there were so many other things that two people could do together.

Now he understood the appeal, glorying in Sendak’s weight on top of him, the closeness, the tease of it all. Sendak pushed up with the hand he had under Lotor’s cock and Lotor groaned at the new pressure, trying to thrust into it as best he could.

“No,” Sendak growled, yanking on his hair to make him still. “Take it.”

If Lotor whimpered at his commanding tone, then that was between the two of them. With great effort, he stilled and rode the wave of the sensations threatening to overwhelm him, rode the feeling of Sendak fucking between his thighs and not quite stroking him, Sendak’s teeth against his neck and his breath hot and damp over his skin.

It shouldn’t have been so good, but it was bliss.

“Please,” he managed. “I’m close- please-”

Sendak laughed in his ear, dark and breathy. It was a sound that went straight to his cock. And then Sendak moved to take him more firmly in hand and started to stroke in time with his thrusts.

Just when Lotor was on the edge Sendak bit down on his shoulder with a growl and that was it- the sudden burst of pain pushed him over and he came with a cry, shuddering as Sendak kept moving, touching him.

Sendak groaned and Lotor felt him spilling between his thighs before he slowed and finally stopped, the full weight of him pressing Lotor down into the sheets for a long breathless moment before he rolled away.

Lotor didn’t move, boneless as he caught his breath. He turned, wincing a little as he felt their combined slick between his thighs.

Sendak slid an arm under him and pulled him up and over to the other side of him, out of the wet spot. He didn’t let go after, cradling Lotor’s body to his and pressing his nose to the back of Lotor’s ear, kissing the faintly stinging marks he’d made earlier.

“You should start keeping oil in your armor,” Lotor murmured sleepily, shivering when Sendak chuckled.

“Perhaps I will,” Sendak said and Lotor huffed out a soft laugh.

He drowsed for a while before an insistent knocking at the door woke him again, hours later.

“Enter,” Sendak called out.

Lotor was distantly aware of being wrapped up in blankets as he raised his head blearily to see Bogh walking in. He didn’t seem particularly surprised by the sight of his Emperor and his High Commander curled up naked together in bed.

“The feast is ready,” he said, nodding respectfully before walking out.

“We could skip it,” Sendak said.

“We can’t,” Lotor said with a regretful wince as he sat up. He didn’t really want to skip it anyway. His stomach was rumbling with hunger and that strange energy was starting to pound through his veins again.

His Empire was ready to receive him- Galra and Alteans coming together for the first time in Millenia. He didn’t want to miss it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out old chapters for new art!!!

* * *

The feast was nothing like his birthday celebration, back on the icy mining base.

There were multiple courses here, and layers of etiquette that Lotor wasn’t familiar with. But at the end- a feast was a feast.

He sat at the head table with his war council and the Altean elders, struggling to make small talk while keeping an eye on the rest of the hall, where Alteans were mingling awkwardly with Galra soldiers and, to a lesser extent, the handful of other races that had come into Lotor’s fold.

The food came from replicators but the alcohol came from the holds of the Galra ships. Soon enough the atmosphere seemed to ease and grow more jovial. Lotor watched Lahn flirting with an Altean woman with an impressive facial scar. Gnov challenged one of the elders to a drinking contest.

There was pipe music, too slow to dance to, though the assembled soldiers did their best. Someone brought out a drum, adding a lively beat to the haunting melody.

In all, it was entirely ridiculous and somehow lovely.

There were a few hesitant toasts, then Hepta had his Sentries bring a few barrels of his homemade moonshine out of his ship and things grew a little hazy.

As the evening grew late Lotor found himself yawning and Sendak leaned closer.

“Are you planning on defiling this temple further?” he murmured into Lotor’s ear. “Or-?”

“Let’s go home,” Lotor said, flushing as soon as he heard the word come out of his mouth. He didn’t know when it had happened, but at some point _ home _had started to mean Sendak’s retrofitted cargo ship.

They slipped away unnoticed during a particularly rousing chorus of a Galra war song and made their way back to the ship, and Sendak’s bedroom.

“I have oil in here, sire,” Sendak teased.

“Do as you like,” Lotor said magnanimously, pulling off his clothes. “Just don’t wake me.”

Sendak laughed and helped him undress the rest of the way before tucking him into bed and curling up behind him.

* * *

The days passed in a whirlwind of inspections and war meetings. Lotor’s ships were repaired and resupplied. He had his Commanders measured for new armor, resolving to outfit the rest of the fleet once he had the time and opportunity.

The manufacturing facilities at Oriande were well set up, and it only took two days until his council convened again- in matching black armor with gold accents. Only Sendak had a half cape, hanging from one shoulder to mid thigh. A bright burst of blood red, the soft fabric accenting the hardness of the rest of him.

“And what of you?” he asked teasingly that night, running his eyes down Lotor’s mismatched armor and tugging on the fastenings of Lotor’s fur-lined cloak.

“I don’t need a uniform to proclaim my status,” Lotor said.

“And I do?”

“No,” Lotor said. “I just like the way you look in it. Now get on your knees and suck my cock.”

“Yes, sire,” Sendak said, his eyes glittering with mischief as he did what he was told.

There were meetings in the morning, hours of pouring over star charts and discussing battle plans. Lotor listened to it all silently as he felt the beginning of a plan forming in his mind.

Gnov proposed a battle formation. Lahn proposed an ambush. Sendak countered with a tactical play of his own. The Altean elders pushed for a surprise attack with the mechas. There was a chaotic argument, raised voices and angry gestures.

Lotor raised his hand and the room fell silent. It was the first time he’d spoken at these meetings in over two days.

He stared at the chart, at the Coalition trade and patrol routes their spies had mapped. It was all so obvious now. So easy.

“Sire?” Sendak asked.

“I need a flagship,” Lotor said slowly. “We haven’t the resources to build one, so we’ll take one instead. This one.”

He reached out and touched the largest marker on the map.

“The Atlas.”

* * *

Lotor didn’t have a throne room and he wasn’t about to entertain a prisoner in the sacred halls of Oriande. Instead he stood in the hangar of his stolen cruiser, waiting as a handful of Sentries brought Ezor before him and pushed her to her knees.

She was trembling.

“Ezor,” he said with a smile. When he stepped towards her, she flinched.

“No need for that,” he said, kneeling before her. “How is your shoulder feeling?”

“Good,” she whispered, not quite looking at him.

“No lies, now,” he said. “How is it, really?”

She licked her lips, still staring at the ground. “Good,” she repeated, stronger. “Nearly healed.”

“I’m so glad to hear it,” Lotor said. “I’d like to offer you a deal, and I need you in top shape if you’re to hold up your end of it.”

“A deal?” she asked meekly, looking up at him.

“Yes,” he said. “Do as I say, and you and Zethrid will be free to go. But if you disobey me- if you fail me, if you run off…”

He let his words hang in the air for a long moment as she stared at him, shaking with terror.

“I’ll hunt you down,” he whispered sweetly, leaning closer so he was sure she heard. “I’ll make you watch me torture her. And then I’ll let you go, and give you a head start so I can hunt you down and do it all again- to you. Do you understand?”

She sniffled loudly. She nodded.

“Good,” Lotor said, and told her what he needed her to do.

After the Sentries took her away Sendak scoffed. “Liar. You wouldn’t.”

“It doesn’t matter what I would or wouldn’t do,” Lotor said. “Just what she thinks I’m capable of.”

“All that time they served you,” Sendak said thoughtfully. “They didn’t know you at all, did they.”

“Apparently not,” Lotor said, feeling a distant twinge of betrayal like the ache of an old scar, healed but not forgotten.

“I don’t like the idea of letting them go,” Sendak said. “But you’ll do it anyway, won’t you.”

Lotor smiled faintly, letting Sendak’s faith in him soothe the ache. “How is it that after such a short time together you know me best out of everyone?”

“I’m not so busy looking after my own hide that I can’t see what’s right in front of my face.” He said it with an easy shrug, like it was nothing.

And yet it was everything. Lotor leaned up to kiss him, a quick brush of lips against lips.

“Come, High Commander,” he said. “Let’s go select a ship.”

* * *

Lotor staged the scene with the utmost care, making sure every detail was perfect. First- the ship. He picked a merchant-class vessel that Gnov’s fleet had taken a while back. The crew of six had been Galra, ferrying supplies between Coalition planets. When confronted with Lotor’s raiders, they’d bent the knee.

For all the Coalition knew- the ship had vanished without a trace a few weeks ago.

Next, Lotor picked the location- an otherwise unremarkable spot on the edge of Coalition space, right next to the planned patrol route of the Atlas. It wasn’t so far from the merchant ship’s own route that its presence there would be alarming, but rather intriguing.

There was an asteroid belt nearby, orbiting a star about to go supernova and letting off unsteady waves of radiation. It would hide a small fleet of fighters as well as Lotor’s satellites, set up to intercept any messages the Atlas might send or recieve.

Destroying the merchant ship was a bit of a waste, but the prize would be well worth it. The final effect was impossible to ignore- the wreckage of a previously missing ship, destroyed by unmistakably Galra weapons. An SOS signal, weak and failing as though it was weeks old. A single escape pod, floating dead in space with a single bio signature. Ezor.

Lotor had timed it all so they only had to wait a few hours before the Atlas arrived to investigate. They intercepted the message from the Atlas to Coalition Central Command, indicating that they’d found a wreckage.

The escape pod was brought on board.

No alarms rang out, there were no further signs of trouble. Ezor must have managed to slip out unnoticed. There were a few more messages. The supposedly brilliant minds on the Atlas concluded that the biosignature inside what they believed had been an empty escape pod had been a sensor error on their part.

The Atlas lingered to investigate the wreckage and recalibrate their sensors to try and fix whatever malfunction had caused the ‘mistaken’ reading from earlier.

Lotor waited. By his estimate it would take Ezor less than an hour to plant all of the small canisters he’d given her- containing a potent sleeping gas.

The encrypted message from her came a few minutes early. She was in place.

He triggered the canisters.

The fleet of fighters waited for another fifteen minutes. The Atlas was a large ship and Lotor wanted as little resistance as possible from the crew when he moved in to take it. There were no alarms, no further messages to Central Command.

“Open the hold,” Lotor ordered Ezor.

The hold of the Atlas started to slide open.

“All teams, move in,” Lotor said. He watched as his fighters, led by Sendak, went in for a landing, giving his soldiers time to make sure the Atlas was secure.

_ “All clear,” _Sendak said.

Lotor followed last, landing in a hangar crowded with Galra ships. There was a strange hush in the air as he climbed out of the cockpit, his bootsteps echoing through the cavernous space.

“The crew is secured,” Sendak said. “There were a few stragglers, but we took care of them.”

“Good,” Lotor said. “Keep the Atlas on its previously scheduled course. We don’t want to tip the Coalition off to the fact that anything is wrong.”

He waited as Sendak relayed the orders to the crew on the bridge.

“Lotor,” Sendak said with a wolfish grin. “An old friend of ours requires your attention.”

Lotor tightened his lips into a thin line. “If it’s Acxa, I don’t want to see her.”

“It’s not Acxa,” Sendak said.

* * *

Lotor wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t for Sendak to lead him to the medbay. And it wasn’t the Black Paladin, passed out and strapped to a medical table- his hair a shock of white and his Galra prosthetic replaced by some hideous oversized floating thing.

There was a glowing socket set into his right shoulder; he was wearing what Lotor assumed to be a captain’s uniform.

“I thought he was dead,” Lotor managed to say, frozen to the spot.

“I’ve thought that a few times too,” Sendak said, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. “But the Champion has a way of refusing to die. It would be impressive if it weren’t so annoying.”

Despite his words, there was admiration in his voice.

“He was on the bridge,” Sendak continued. “We think he was the captain. He’s sedated now. Until we can find a way to deactivate the arm it’s not safe for him to wake.”

“I’ll take a look,” Lotor muttered, drawing closer. The arm was strapped down too- a mix of what appeared to be Altean and human technology. 

The last time he’d seen the Black Paladin, he’d handed him over to the witch. But he’d saved his life, too, by taking him away from the Paladins after they’d learned of the Colony. He’d saved his life by giving him his bayard. In some ways he’d given Lotor his Empire, for the short time he had it, by taking him to the Kral Zera. 

Lotor wasn’t sure what he was feeling as he looked at the man before him. Happy to see he was alive, hurt that he hadn’t spoken for him at his trial. Hurt, that the one person who’d stood at his side when he’d most needed allies had turned out to be a spy. Again.

“Are you alright?” Sendak asked.

“I’m fine,” Lotor said.

“Of course,” Sendak said, only sounding vaguely disbelieving. “Maybe you should take a moment. Go for a walk.”

“I’m fine,” Lotor said. “We continue with the plan. I’ll take care of the arm, and then we’ll wake him up.”

* * *

Lotor had managed to calm by the time the Black Paladin’s eyes slowly opened. He blinked a few times in confusion, and then his lips parted around a gasp, his heart rate spiking. Of course. He’d had experience unexpectedly waking up in medbays before. This must have been a very nasty surprise for him. It was about to get nastier.

“Did you have a nice nap?” Lotor asked pleasantly.

Shiro’s eyes snapped towards where Lotor was sprawled comfortably in a chair at his bedside, feet resting casually on the bed, crossed at the ankles. Beside him was a table bearing the disassembled remains of Shiro’s Altean prosthetic.

“It’s been a while,” Lotor continued. “I thought you might like to catch up.”

Shiro gritted his teeth and stayed silent. Lotor couldn’t have that.

“I like the hair,” he said easily, waving vaguely in the direction of Shiro’s face. “The uniform, I’m not so thrilled with. Black on grey? It really washes you out.”

“The flight suit is a bit more fetching,” Sendak said from where he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed casually over his chest.

Shiro’s face went pale and then bright red as he heard Sendak’s voice. He turned to glare.

“Tight,” Sendak said with a leer. “You’d like it, sire. Maybe I’ll dress him up in it, when I put him back in the arena.”

“We’d have to build one first,” Lotor said. “I can think of better uses for our time and resources at present. But who knows what the future might hold?”

Sendak smirked and looked away. Lotor frowned at Shiro, still stoic. He’d hoped prodding at the old hurt of his initial capture would provoke a reaction. He changed tactics.

“Not very talkative today, are you- Takashi,” he said. “And I recall we used to have such nice conversations. I recall you’d come down to my cell after everyone else had gone to sleep and we’d talk for hours. We got rather close, didn’t we?”

Shiro stayed defiantly silent.

“I thought so, at least,” Lotor said. “Do you remember the night I murdered my father for you? You came to my rooms with a bottle of Nunville. We spent the night giggling like schoolboys over that nasty swill. I still have fond memories of returning the favor, when you’d been staying on the Imperial Command Ship. Although the Galra whiskey I brought you was of much finer quality.

“And now you can’t even say hello to an old friend. How very rude.”

Shiro took a slow deep breath before looking up at the ceiling, resolutely ignoring the both of them.

“That’s right, I remember now,” Lotor said. “Patience yields focus. It’s a cute mantra, but I think you’ll find that no one is more patient than I am.” He glanced up at Sendak, watching the exchange shrewdly. “High Commander Sendak- what is the crew complement of the Atlas?”

“Three thousand, five hundred and seventy four.”

“Maybe I’ll start bringing them in here, one by one,” Lotor said, leaning closer. “How many will I have to execute before you deign to greet me?”

Shiro let out a shuddering breath, closing his eyes for a moment. “You wouldn’t,” he said, his voice hoarse.

Lotor raised his eyebrows expectantly.

“You wouldn’t,” Shiro repeated, stronger. “You’ve never been vicious for no reason. You’ve never been bloodthirsty or cruel.”

“Do you really think so?” Lotor asked mildly, leaning back in his chair. “You might have said as much at my so-called trial. But you were notably absent. Were you ill?”

“Lotor,” Shiro said carefully. “I wanted to speak for you. I did. They decided the clone’s memories weren’t… reliable.”

“How sweet of you to say,” Lotor said. “Do you really think lying to me will save you?”

“It’s not a lie,” Shiro said. “And I don’t think there’s anything I can say that will save me now. But you have to know- you don’t stand a chance against Voltron. The Paladins will come for you.”

“Somehow I’m not particularly concerned,” Lotor said, inspecting his fingernails. “Maybe if you were still flying the Black Lion they’d have a glimmer of a chance. But they shoved you off into a supporting role, didn’t they. And now here you are, at my mercy, while they run around sowing chaos elsewhere.”

“They’re stronger than ever,” Shiro said.

Lotor laughed. “Are they?”

“They destroyed Sendak’s fleet,” Shiro said with a scowl at Sendak. “What you lost then- it can’t be recovered. Your ranks are dwindling. The Empire is dead.”

Sendak didn’t rise to the challenge, simply staring back at him cooly.

“You’d be surprised at what I’m capable of recovering from,” Lotor said. “My own father couldn’t cut me down, and not for lack of trying. What are any of you to him? Bugs, to be crushed under my heel. Maybe you’ve forgotten how I ran circles around your little team in the first few weeks after your failed attempt to defeat Zarkon. I remember quite well, and I intend to remind them too.”

“You’ll never get what you want. You’ll never win.”

“Oh Takashi,” Lotor said with a pitying smile. “I already have.”

The small device he’d set among the pieces of Shiro’s arm beeped. A computerized voice announced- _ voice analysis complete. _

Lotor picked up the device and tossed it to Sendak who caught it easily, straightening.

“What-” Shiro managed.

Sendak pressed a button and his body shimmered, seemed to flicker, and then the holographic disguise engaged and it was Shiro standing in his place, wearing his Captain’s uniform.

“We performed the body scan while you were out,” Lotor said pleasantly. “Don’t worry, it was a noninvasive procedure.”

“We rise, Emperor Lotor,” Sendak said in Shiro’s voice, with Shiro’s face. He smirked in a decidedly _ Sendak _way and turned to leave the room.

“You’ll never fool them,” Shiro said, his breathing coming quicker as he realized what had happened. “We have a code word, they’ll know he’s an imposter-”

Lotor scoffed, dropping the taunting tone and false friendliness as he stood. “I don’t think so. You didn’t even search me the first time you took me prisoner. You don’t have a code word.”

“Whatever you’re planning won’t work,” Shiro said, fighting uselessly against his bonds.

“It will. Pray it does- for your own sake.” He summoned the Sentries to take Shiro to the brig but paused before leaving the room. “I do still feel rather… _ fond _of you,” he said quietly. “Despite everything. I don’t intend to hurt you or the rest of your crew. Not if I can help it. Don’t make trouble for me and you’ll be home before you know it.”

“I don’t believe you,” Shiro said, his eyes flashing with anger.

“I don’t care what you believe,” Lotor said. “Your part in this is over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shiro is a good boy and he doesn't deserve this... but also... sorry buddy.
> 
> Reblog don't repost!
> 
> Original post [HERE](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/189199282240/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

“What are you still doing up?” Sendak asked from behind him.

“Studying the interaction between the ship’s crystal and the one from the Black Paladin’s arm,” Lotor said without looking up.

“Fascinating.”

“It is, actually,” Lotor muttered, not looking away from the readings. “I think if I can figure this out I can make the ship transform.”

“It’s the middle of the sleep cycle. You should sleep.”

“If it comes to battle, I should have the full capabilities of the ship under my control.”

“We won’t reach Olkarion for another three days.”

“Exactly- only three days.”

“Lotor.”

_ “What?” _Lotor asked, turning to look at Sendak at last. Sendak simply raised an eyebrow, looking back at him.

“Lotor.”

Lotor scowled. Sendak grinned, slowly, and strode forward to take Lotor by the wrist.

“Come,” he said.

Lotor frowned harder but made no move to escape Sendak’s hold. “Come_ where?” _

“With me.”

Lotor sighed, and followed.

The first thing they’d done after taking the Atlas had been to shift the ambient light into a spectrum more comfortable for Galra eyes, so the hallways were lit with soft purple light. The ship was quiet except for the ever-present hum of the engines in the distance and the unobtrusive Sentries going about their rounds.

Sendak walked confidently towards whatever destination he had in mind. They’d only taken the Atlas a week ago, and already he seemed to know it as well as he knew his cargo ship. Lotor thought perhaps Sendak was taking him there, but they seemed to be going away from the hangar and towards the upper decks.

They ended up on one of the observation decks, a decently sized round chamber with a few comfortable couches arranged in the middle. The walls and ceiling were just a dome of glass, offering a stunning view.

“Why did you bring me here?” Lotor asked.

“To look at the stars.”

“I’ve seen the stars,” Lotor said, but he couldn’t hold back a smile. The view was breathtaking. They were passing a bright nebula, the colorful gasses shifting slowly like something out of a dream. And everywhere- the stars shone down like tiny pinpricks in the black velvet fabric of the universe, laid out before them.

“I never tire of the view,” Sendak said, moving to stand behind him and hold his shoulders. “Do you?” he asked, leaning in to murmur into Lotor’s ear.

“No,” Lotor said, almost a whisper.

“Everything you see will be ours, soon.”

“Yes,” Lotor said as Sendak kissed the side of his neck. His hands moved off Lotor’s shoulders to unclasp his cloak, letting it fall to the ground. He moved with confidence as he opened the latches holding Lotor’s breastplate together.

“Sendak,” Lotor said with a breathy laugh. “Here?”

“Yes, here,” Sendak said while confidently stripping him.

“What if someone comes in?”

“We’ll tell them to get out.”

“I see,” Lotor said as Sendak pushed him down onto one of the couches and knelt before him. “You could at least lock the door.”

Sendak made a noncommittal noise as he opened Lotor’s pants and reached inside, stroking him slowly.

“Ah,” Lotor sighed, dropping his head to rest against the couch.

“Shall I stop and get up to go lock the door?” Sendak asked teasingly.

Lotor could feel the heat of his breath against the head of his cock, and wanted Sendak’s mouth on him so badly. He couldn’t bear to wait another moment, much less the time it would take for him to rise, and-

Sendak laughed.

“Don’t tease me,” Lotor managed to breathe out.

“Hmm,” Sendak said. “I’ll take that under advisement.”

He leaned in to lick the underside of Lotor’s cock, holding his legs open in preparation for the way he flinched, gasping. This wasn’t exactly _ new _anymore, but it was new enough that every time still left Lotor reeling. More from the thought of it- Sendak, kneeling for him, pleasuring him with his mouth- than the actual sensation. Though the sensation was pretty spectacular.

Sendak teased him a while, despite his earlier protest. And then he finally pulled off Lotor’s boots and the rest of his clothes, leaving him nude, and pushed him to lie down on the couch before draping one of Lotor’s legs over the back of it. He settled between Lotor’s thighs, pulling a small bottle of oil out of his pocket and slicking his fingers.

Lotor groaned at the first touch, closing his eyes. That part wasn’t exactly new anymore either, but it felt different letting Sendak touch him like this on the observation deck of the Atlas, surrounded by the stars.

It felt oddly illicit, like they’d be caught any moment, and punished for it.

Sendak laughed and Lotor flushed, suddenly sure that somehow Sendak knew exactly what he was thinking.

“This ship is yours,” Sendak whispered, pushing a thick finger inside him and crooking it up to hit the spot that made Lotor feel like putty in his hands. “This moment- us, together- is yours. I’m yours too. And soon- everything as far as the eye can see will be ours. Don’t hide from it. _ Take it.” _

Sendak pushed into him with two fingers and the sudden stretch had Lotor gasping and arching up into his touch. He was keenly aware of being naked in the observation deck while Sendak knelt over him, still in his armor.

It was filthy. It was perfect.

Sendak kissed him, slow and sweet as though they were virgins courting for the first time. As though he wasn’t fucking Lotor with his fingers, the wet sound of it obscene in the silent room.

“Fuck me,” Lotor breathed out.

“I intend to,” Sendak growled.

“Shouldn’t you- shouldn’t you- undress?”

Sendak laughed, low and wicked. “You didn’t put all that effort into designing this armor for me so I would take it off, did you.”

Lotor flushed, looking away. It wasn’t exactly untrue. Sendak moved to unfasten the latches at his groin so he could pull his cock out, but otherwise stayed completely clothed. It should have felt awkward, and instead it made Lotor burn up with lust. Sendak leaned over him and the red half-cape brushed against the naked skin of Lotor’s arm, impossibly soft.

He closed his eyes, waiting, and then Sendak said-

“Hands above your head.”

The need to obey was sharp and shocking, and Lotor moved his hands before he’d made the decision to do it. He opened his eyes to see Sendak staring down at him, a fond smile playing over his lips.

“Keep them there,” Sendak whispered, and then he was pushing inside and Lotor moaned, gripping the arm of the couch as he tried to center himself.

Sendak was huge. He might have been able to handle that, but Sendak’s cock was ridged and it was impossible to get used to the sensation. All Lotor could do was try to relax and take it, the pressure and stretch and pleasure of it.

Sendak slipped an arm under his waist to angle his hips up and Lotor cried out as the angle shifted and Sendak pushed in deeper. His knuckles were white where he was gripping the couch and Sendak moved to cover them with his free hand, tangling their fingers together. It was a sweet gesture at odds with the way Sendak started to thrust into him, slow but unyielding, relentless.

It knocked the breath out of him, left him seeing stars even when he closed his eyes. Lotor wrapped his legs around Sendak, pulling him in, and Sendak chuckled before bending to kiss him. Lotor couldn’t catch his breath and didn’t want to. He felt overwhelmed- reduced to pure animal pleasure.

He felt wanted and taken, he felt free.

“That’s it, give it up,” Sendak whispered nonsensically, and Lotor felt it down to his bones.

“Touch me,” Lotor demanded. “I want-”

Sendak let go of his hands to take his cock instead, stroking him in time with his thrusts.

Lotor gasped, giving himself over to the too-much sensation of it all, the building heat between them. And Sendak- looming over him, all dark shadows and hard angles, an inferno encased in black armor and unexpected sweetness.

Lotor came with a shuddering sigh while Sendak still moved within him, and felt himself go loose and pliant as Sendak groaned and finished too, folding over him to kiss his neck, the side of his face, his lips.

When he pulled back to stare Lotor couldn’t help but snort out a laugh.

“What is it?” Sendak asked, pushing a lock of hair back from Lotor’s forehead and tucking it behind his ear.

It was everything. Lotor- naked while Sendak still knelt fully dressed between his legs, the stars, the Atlas, the promise of the future ahead.

“There’s come dripping down my thigh,” Lotor managed.

“Let me clean that up for you, sire,” Sendak said with a grin, grabbing the edge of his red cloak.

“Don’t you dare,” Lotor said, shoving him away. “That’s Arusian velvet, you brute.”

“Then you’ll have to wait until I get you back to bed.”

Lotor groaned as he contemplated dressing again, but Sendak simply stood and straightened his clothing before grabbing Lotor’s cloak off the floor and draping it over his naked shoulders. Once Lotor was sufficiently covered up, Sendak slipped an arm under his shoulders and knees and picked him up easily.

“Undignified,” Lotor muttered, wrapping a bare arm around Sendak’s shoulders to steady himself.

“As if you care,” Sendak retorted, carrying him out of the room and through the halls. He ordered a passing Sentry to grab the rest of Lotor’s things from the observation deck. Lotor hid his face against Sendak’s shoulder with an easy sigh, and if they passed anyone else in the halls he didn’t know it. He didn’t know much aside from the satisfied exhaustion weighing down his limbs, dozing off despite himself until he was being lowered into bed and wiped down with a cool cloth.

Sendak’s arms were around him and he was warm and safe. He didn’t much care to notice anything else.

* * *

“Sire,” Hepta said from the communications console. “Our outriders are approaching Olkarion.”

“Good,” Lotor said. “Prepare to patch me through.”

“Ready,” Hepta nodded. “Outriders in position, channel active.”

“Hail Olkarion.”

It took a moment as the signal was bounced from the Atlas through a chain of Galra ships, until it appeared to be originating from one of the Sentry-driven advance fighters.

The hail was answered and Lotor smirked at the sweating Olkari that greeted him.

“Emperor Lotor,” the woman whispered.

“Yes,” Lotor said. “I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced. You are-?”

“...Ryner.”

“Well, Ryner,” Lotor said, peering at her with interest. “It is customary to kneel before an Emperor, but just this once, I’ll let it go. I’ve come to take your pathetic little planet. I suggest you surrender and save me the trouble.”

“No,” Ryner managed, looking quite brave even as her chin trembled. “We won’t submit to you. We’ll never submit to Galra rule again.”

“I see,” Lotor said easily. “Victory or death. I’m quite familiar with the concept and I don’t mind taking you by force. Contact me if you change your mind.”

He nodded to Hepta, who ended the transmission.

Lotor turned his attention back to the holomap before him. Olkarion activated its defenses- an energy barrier that encompassed the planet. It was an impressive bit of technology, anchored by six orbiting satellites and impenetrable to all known weapons.

The bulk of Lotor’s fleet approached Olkarion from the North-East quadrant. They’d be on Olkarion’s long range sensors by now and only two hours away from reaching the planet. There was an advance fleet of cloaked Sentry-operated fighters that were much closer to the planet and, based on the lack of response from the Coalition military, were as of yet undiscovered.

The Atlas, however, was still on its preset course, one that would take it past Olkarion through the South-West quadrant.

It took fifteen minutes or so before the Atlas came into sensor range, then mere moments before they received an urgent transmission.

Sendak grinned and activated his holo-disguise before answering.

“Admiral Shirogane,” Ryner said, her face full of fear.

“Is something the matter?” Sendak-as-Shiro asked. Sendak’s stoic mannerisms translated easily to Shiro’s body. If Lotor hadn’t known better, he might have been fooled too.

“We need urgent assistance,” Ryner said. “We’ve been contacted by Prince Lotor, his fleet is on an intercept course.”

Lotor wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or amused by the petty disrespect. It didn’t much matter either way- they’d all be kneeling soon enough.

“That’s troubling news,” Sendak said, properly concerned.

There was a beep as Olkarion transmitted their sensor data. Lotor was pleased to see that it was just as he thought- his cloaked ships hadn’t been detected.

“We’re on our way,” Sendak said. “We can open a Teleduv portal and be there before Lotor’s ships can reach you. Send us the access codes for your shields.”

“Yes, Admiral,” Ryner said with a relieved smile. “He won’t know what hit him.”

Sendak’s lips curled up in an expression of amusement that looked out of place on Shiro’s face. “No, he won’t.”

The screen went dark. The next transmission came through- access codes to Olkarion’s defenses.

Lotor laughed. The bridge crew cheered.

“Sire,” Sendak said, shutting down the holographic disguise. “Do I have your leave to take Olkarion?”

“Do go ahead, High Commander Sendak,” Lotor said with a grin, leaning back in his throne, a recent addition in front of the command platform, where he had an excellent view of the main viewscreen.

Sendak gave out a flurry of orders as his men sprang into action. The access codes were broadcast to the rest of Lotor’s fleet, battle formations shifted, one of the Altean alchemists opened a teleduv portal.

They warped inside Olkarion’s defense perimeter and Sendak ordered the hangar bay of the Atlas to open. A dozen Altean mecha streamed out, taking out the satellites anchoring the planetary shield within a few confused breaths.

Sendak gave the order for the cloaked ships to move forward and engage.

Alarms rang out through Olkari military installations, fighter ships scrambled to take off. Altean mechas and Galra fighters moved in concert to take out ground defenses and military shipyards. Lotor’s satellites intercepted confused frightened messages and blocked the signals.

There was chaos.

Lotor reveled in it, waiting for the inevitable delicious moment when-

“Sire, Olkarion is hailing us,” Hepta said.

“Put it through,” Lotor said, standing.

“Admiral Shirogane, what-!” Ryner started, only for her eyes to widen as she stared at Lotor’s smug smile.

“Me again, I’m afraid,” he said.

“What…” Ryner whispered, her fear and confusion plain.

“Haven’t I been perfectly clear?” Lotor asked mildly. “I said I’d take your planet, and here I am. Stand down now and we can negotiate. Or, if you prefer, we can continue with your original plan- victory or death. Though that hardly seems fair to your citizens.”

A ship exploded somewhere nearby. Sendak was giving orders behind him. Four Altean mechas landed on the surface of the planet with brutal force, crouching as they surrounded the capital, their chests glowing as the Komar began to charge.

“Come now,” Lotor said. “I’m offering you my hand in friendship.”

“Friendship,” Ryner managed, raising her hand to her throat as she swallowed nervously. “We are no friends to the Galra Empire. We are members of the Voltron Coalition and we won’t turn on them.”

“I’m not asking you to turn on anyone,” Lotor said. “I’m simply suggesting you do what you’re best at- nothing.”

Ryner flushed angrily and Lotor laughed, sitting back down on his throne in a casual sprawl. “Tell me- how long were your people content to simply let my father conquer and destroy completely unopposed?”

“We…”

“You were the most technologically advanced race in the universe, were you not?” Lotor continued relentlessly. “And yet you maintained your neutrality for thousands of years, letting others fight and fall. It wasn’t until the Galra came to your own shores that you roused yourself enough to muster up some pathetic opposition.”

Ryner seemed at a loss for words and Lotor stared at her cooly.

“We- that was the old ways,” Ryner managed, somewhat shakily. “We owe Voltron our freedom-”

“You owe _ me _ your freedom,” Lotor said sharply. “I was the one that killed Zarkon. I was the one who took the reins of my father’s Empire and moved to build peace. Voltron turned on me on the basis of the second-hand testimony of a teenage girl and threw the universe into chaos. So if it’s a question of what you _ owe _ and to _ whom- _ you may get down on your knees and thank me at any time.

“But I suspect it’s a question of fear, instead. You fear retaliation from Voltron and their Coalition. I’m here to tell you- you should fear me more.”

Ryner paled gratifyingly and Lotor smirked.

“You’ve seen for yourself- I’ve taken your Admiral. I’ve taken your Atlas. I can take your planet at a moment’s notice or destroy it. The mechas surrounding your capital are equipped with the Komar.”

Ryner’s eyes widened as she paled further, looking on the verge of fainting.

“Oh, you’ve heard of it?” Lotor asked. “So you’ll understand I’m very serious when I say- your only options now are obedience or destruction.”

Ryner stayed silent.

“Let’s end the charade,” Lotor said cooly. “We both know what you will choose. The Olkari have no loyalty to anyone but themselves. Now- I want to see you kneel.”

Ryner raised a shaking hand to her mouth, staring off into the distance.

_ “Kneel,” _Sendak growled from behind him.

Slowly, she knelt.

“That wasn’t so difficult, was it?” Lotor asked sweetly. “I’ll be in touch about my further requirements.”

He waved his hand and the transmission cut off.

The Olkari troops, what was left of them, disengaged. The planet was his.

* * *

It took the better part of the day to set the scene to his benefit- and to make sure the Olkari wouldn’t try anything once he moved the main part of his fleet out of sensor range. He brought Ryner and a few other Olkari officials on board the Atlas as insurance against the actions of the rest of their population.

Sendak-as-Shiro sent out a message to the Paladins, and then there was nothing to do but wait.

It took another day for the Paladins to arrive, docking their Lions in the Atlas’s hangar. Lotor made sure they had time to settle into the conference room before moving to join them. At least this time he wouldn’t be facing them alone- he knew well enough by now not to risk such a thing.

Lotor and Sendak had carefully assembled his honor guard ahead of time- mostly Alteans and a handful of Galra with smaller frames, so their race wouldn’t be immediately obvious, at least while they wore their helmets. Lotor was probably the tallest of all of them as he walked in the middle of the formation, his heart fluttering with every step he took.

They walked into the conference room, Lotor forcing himself not to flinch when he came face to face with the Paladins once more, looking up at the party of armed Garrison soldiers in confusion.

The leader of the party, Merla, took a knee and brought her hand to her chest, bowing her head. As one, the other soldiers did the same so Lotor was the only one left standing. He took off his helmet as he walked forward, setting it down on the conference desk with a loud clunk, glorying in the way the Paladins flinched back in shock.

_ “Lotor,” _Allura hissed, jerking to her feet and pointing her weapon at him while the others did the same. A ripple of unease spread through the room as Lotor’s soldiers stood, their hands on their weapons. They didn't draw, not yet.

“What’s going on?” the Blue Paladin, Lance, asked.

“How are you here?” the little Green Paladin demanded.

“You taught me a valuable lesson about choosing my allies wisely,” Lotor said. “Shame that you didn’t learn it for yourselves.” He looked pointedly at Ryner, sitting at the conference table. She flushed and looked down at her folded hands.

“Wait-” the Yellow Paladin said in a hushed voice. “Ryner? You- you’re working with him?”

“Where’s Shiro?” the half Galra boy demanded impatiently.

Lotor tossed Shiro’s prosthetic to the center of the table dramatically before taking a seat, raising one ankle to rest on the other knee.

“He won’t be joining us,” Lotor said easily. “Sit.”

They kept staring at him, frightened and uncertain.

“If you want him to continue living, you’ll sit,” Lotor said. _ “Now.” _

The half Galra boy sat, the others following slowly.

“How positively civilized,” Lotor purred, looking at all of them in turn. “A promising start.”

“What do you want?” Allura asked.

“I’m sure you can guess,” Lotor said. “The Lions. I’ve come to offer a trade.”

“No,” Allura said. “No, we won’t-”

“I wasn’t speaking to you,” Lotor interrupted sharply. “Keith,” he said instead, looking at the half Galra boy. “I’ll trade you the Black Lion in return for your Captain. Takashi Shirogane.”

Keith’s mouth dropped open in shock, his hands tensing.

Lotor didn’t wait for an answer. “Katie Holt,” he said, looking at the Green Paladin. “We all know you’d sell out the entire universe for your family. You’ve done it before. I have your father as well as your mother. I’ll give them back to you, in return for Green.”

He paused, sweeping his gaze through the room. “Lance,” he said next. “I believe your sister, Veronica, is in the brig. I’ll give her back to you for Red. And Princess-”

He paused at that, smirking at Allura’s frightened gaze. “I have your steward. Coran, is it? You’ll have him back, as long as you give me Blue.”

There was a long shocked moment of silence as he slowly slid his gaze over to the last Paladin, the yellow one.

“I haven’t cared to learn your name,” Lotor said dismissively. “Let’s say- the rest of the crew is on your head. A few thousand, I should think. It’s up to you- their lives in return for your Lion. What do you say?”

“How do we know Shiro’s alive?” Keith demanded.

“You can’t seriously be considering this,” Allura said.

“Let me speak to him,” Keith said. “Just let me-”

“No!” Allura cried out. “We can’t trust him. We can’t-”

“There’s thousands on the Atlas,” the Yellow Paladin muttered. _ “Thousands. _We should-”

“No!” Allura yelled. “He’s a liar!”

“Am I?” Lotor asked.

“Yes!” Allura hissed. “Yes, you sacrificed my people for _ power, _ for _ quintessence-” _

“Your people?” Lotor interrupted, growing angry despite himself. “What have you ever done for them? What has your father done? Run away and left them defenseless, gave them up without a fight. _I _was the one that saved them, that gave them sanctuary._ Your people _ bent the knee to me in gratitude, pledging their love and loyalty. They called me _ savior _ with one breath and cursed your name with the next-”

“You’re a liar!” Allura yelled.

She jerked back when Merla raised her hands to take off her helmet and dropped it carelessly to the ground, glaring coldly at the princess. The other Alteans in his retinue did the same before bringing their hands up to their chests in a salute. Allura only watched, eyes wide and mouth gaping.

“They’ll turn on you when they find out the truth-” she insisted.

“And what is the truth?” Lotor asked sharply. “You have no idea. You have _ nothing- _no evidence, nothing but a single witness to the words of a dying boy. What is it that you even think I’ve done?”

“You committed genocide.”

Lotor laughed, startled at the ridiculous accusation. “Is that what you really think? That’s the reason you destroyed our alliance and threw the universe into chaos?”

“What would you call it, then,” Allura said, glaring. “How would you explain your actions?”

Lotor laughed again, his anger fading to mild amusement. “I see,” he said. “Now that I have you under my power, you're interested in hearing an explanation. Unfortunately I’m going to have to decline. I don’t owe you anything, much less the satisfaction of the truth. You had your chance.”

Lotor’s gauntlet beeped and he moved to shut down the alarm.

“Look at that,” he said. “You’re out of time. What a shame, it seems our deal has expired.”

“What-” Lance managed while Lotor smirked.

“Did you really think that after everything you’ve done I’d show up here and barter on your good will and _ diplomacy?” _Lotor laughed, throwing his head back. The doors opened and Galra soldiers marched in, Sendak at the head of the column. He stopped behind Lotor’s chair and set a hand on his shoulder, heavy and comforting.

“It’s over,” Lotor said. “While we were chatting, my soldiers were loading your Lions onto my ships. They’re half a Galaxy away by now.”

As he stared at their stunned expressions he could only laugh once more.

“Don’t tell me you couldn’t sense it? Through your _ sacred _Paladin bonds?”

“You- you won’t get away with this,” Allura said.

“I already have,” Lotor said, standing.

If he’d ever been having fun- he wasn’t anymore. He was just tired.

He waved his hand vaguely, knowing that Sendak would understand what he wanted, and walked away.


	10. Epilogue

* * *

Lotor had expected to enjoy watching the Paladins put on trial, but instead he only found himself profoundly bored. He spent his time on more worthwhile pursuits- reestablishing trade routes and rebuilding favorable relations with alien races, trying to cobble together an Empire out of the ashes he found himself buried in.

Sendak was more involved in the trials. He testified, more than once, about the actions of the Paladins. He testified about his own actions too, under Zarkon’s regime. He came to bed frowning and exhausted on those days, and Lotor didn’t ask unless Sendak offered to share on his own.

At least two months passed until it was all over. A tribunal of multiple alien races ruled that the Paladins should be considered child soldiers, and therefore not entirely responsible for their actions. The Black Paladin, too, was somewhat acquitted. Due to the trauma he’d suffered during his imprisonment by the Galra he’d been ruled to be not entirely mentally sound and given a more lenient sentence. The whole lot of them were exiled to Earth, where they wouldn’t cause further trouble.

The question of the Princess and her steward was more fraught. The Alteans in the tribunal wanted to judge her harshly, sentencing her and her man to execution for attempting to depose a rightful ruler and an ally. Sendak was the one that stepped in, on Lotor’s behalf, and had the sentence reduced to banishment to Earth with the rest of them.

She was just a child, in her own way. Lotor had no further sympathy for her, but he had no desire to begin his reign with executions.

He was consumed by other matters- trying to fix all the wrongs that had been done to the people of the universe. His universe, now. He spent hours upon hours trying to negotiate trade routes and rebuilding infrastructure- reactivating mining facilities and replanting farming planets, making everything _ work _again.

The Galra under his command took well to the new and unusual challenges of peace time. They were tired of fighting and destruction and eager to build something for once. The Alteans excelled as his ambassadors and alchemists, his scientists and merchants. They helped set up planets where they could sustainably mine quintessence, using the methods Lotor had developed so long ago that had resulted in his exile.

And of course there was the question of what to do with Voltron. Lotor considered trying to find pilots for it and discarded the thought almost as soon as he had it. Voltron was the ghost of a long-gone era, a specter of the past that he had no desire to look at ever again. He made plans to disassemble it and melt it down. The only question that truly remained was if he’d try to build something out of the resulting ore, or if he’d have the whole thing destroyed and put an end to that dark chapter of history.

He was lost in his work when Sendak came in and set a giant hand on the back of his neck, warm and comforting.

“Today is your birthday,” he said.

Lotor laughed. What else could he do?

“It’s been- it can’t be. It’s been barely a year.”

“I’ve decided that it’s today,” Sendak said. “So it’s today. Our people have been working hard, they deserve a break. We’ll have a celebration tonight. Before then I’m taking a small group into the plains for a hunt. You should come with us.”

Lotor laughed harder. “You’re serious,” he managed.

Sendak raised an eyebrow pointedly.

“So this is how you intend to motivate our people? Announce it’s my birthday every couple of months?”

“It seems a fine enough method,” Sendak said with a smirk. “We’ll establish more official holidays in time. But for now- this is what we have. Your birthday. So come along.”

Lotor felt warm all over as he looked into Sendak’s eyes, full of warmth and mischief.

“And I suppose we’ll have a feast tonight?” Lotor asked.

“Of course,” Sendak said. “Just wait until you see the performances. You’ll die laughing.”

“I very well might,” Lotor said with a grin.

He paused for a moment longer, weighing everything he had to do with everything Sendak was offering him.

“It’s my birthday,” Lotor said at last. “Why don’t you show me a good time.”

“Yes, sire,” Sendak said with a wolfish grin, and pulled him into a kiss.

_ fin. _

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at [barbitone](http://barbitone.tumblr.com/) and pillowfort also at [barbitone](https://www.pillowfort.io/barbitone)


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